Dreamkeeper is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The film recounts 10 Indian legends from the Cheyenne, Pawnee, Lakota, Blackfeet, Kiowa, Mohawk and Crow tribes.
The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (August Schellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse (Eddie Spears).
The story begins as the two travel from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to the fictitious All Nations powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Along the way, the grandfather tells his grandson various Indian stories and legends to help him understand and choose the “good red road,” i.e. to embrace his Indian identity.
This film is available on Amazon Prime Video Streaming for just a few dollars.
DreamKeeper
2h 54min | Drama, Fantasy | TV Movie 28 December 2003
Director: Steve Barron
Writer: John Fusco
Stars: August Schellenberg, Eddie Spears, Gary Farmer
Dreamkeeper Facts and Figures:
- 2,500 American Indians worked on the film
- 700 were cast as actors
- 15 elders served as consultants
- 1,500 buffalo stampeded through the hunting scenes
- 100 historically correct tepees
- 4,850 equally accurate costumes
- 1,000-year-old stone was hauled in from a Canadian museum for authenticity
Dreamkeeper’s Awards
- 2003, American Indian Film Festival: Best Film
- 2004, Emmy Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
- 2004 Humanitarian Award—John Fusco—First Americans in the Arts
“DreamKeeper” is a movie which has to be experienced as it is a collection of old Indian stories all told in a visual manner but all has a deeper meaning which makes them so fascinating.
The Movie Scene [Andy Webb]
