Two Indigenous Films Directed by Chris Eyre

A benefit screening for the Santa Fe International Film Festival Indigenous Film Program

Filmmaker Scott Garen will introduce the films while Chris Eyre is joining us for a revealing Q & A to explore both films within the trail-blazing career of this gifted director who broke through the glass ceiling for indigenous filmmakers in Hollywood with uniquely resonant films that plumbed the depths of the experience of indigenous people with humor, insight and a never-ending search for the truth.


 A THOUSAND ROADS – The Widescreen Signature Film of the Smithsonian’s Nat’l. Museum of the American Indian.

Directed by Chris Eyre
Produced by Scott Garen & Barry Clark
Written by Scott Garen & Joy Harjo

A Thousand Roads is an epic widescreen “prayer” to Indian Country that weaves the stories of four Native Americans within the spiritual matrix of indigenous people.  A young Inupiat girl, Navajo gangbanger, Mohawk stockbroker and a Quechuan healer journey through the landscapes of Alaska, New Mexico, Manhattan and Peru, drawing strength from their tribal past to transcend the challenges of the day and embrace the promises that await them.  

This “destination film” only runs in the surround-sound theater of the Smithsonian’s Nat’l. Museum of the American Indian, and was designed as an immersive experience, lensed by Academy Award Winning cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, and scored by Academy Award Winning composer, Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator, Whale Rider).  It’s a 40-minute film being paired with the season finale of Dark Winds - that has captured audiences throughout the country.  

DARK WINDS – “Beauty is Restored”
Directed by Chris Eyre
Starring: Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten and Deanna Allison

Dark Winds broke new ground as one of the first series to include a cast that is 90% Native American, featuring Navajo culture and people at its center. It is a wide-screen, epic series that follows two Navajo Tribal Police officers battling the forces of evil and their own personal demons on the path to salvation.

In this Season 2 Finale, the deeper character of Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) is revealed as all the strands of this remarkable series weave together for a stunning filmic journey through the epic winter landscape of Monument Valley, including evocative sequences scored by Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time”, Neil Young’s “Birds” and Creedence Clearwater’s “Have you Ever Seen the Rain”. It’s a real treat to see this streaming film on the big screen and to hear Chris Eyre’s wonderful stories about the long journey to a green light – and the assembly of a stellar cast and production team to bring the series to life, including Executive Producers, George RR Martin and Robert Redford.

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About CineMania at Violet Crown

CineMania at Violet Crown offers a monthly series of important films of extraordinary artistry presented and curated by filmmaker Scott Garen, with periodic appearances by some of the key creatives of the films, including acclaimed writer William Broyles, Jr. (Castaway, Apollo 13, Polar Exprss), genre-bending writer James V. Hart (Hook, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Contact), renowned director Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals, A Thousand Roads, Dark Winds) and Academy Award Winning Cinematographer Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi, Top Gun: Maverick, Benjamin Button). The series is designed to create and foster a band of cinema lovers from the greater community of Santa Fe, fed and inspired by a unique series of films with lively and entertaining Q & A discussions in Violet Crown’s event space.