Advertise:   ads@blueearthmarketing.com   712.224.5420

National
Review: NMAI film 'contrived' and unmemorable


Ann Hornaday, a writer for The Washington Post, critiques a new film that will be playing at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

"A Thousand Roads" is a 43-minute movie that features vignettes of four Native people. It was directed by Chris Eyre of "Smoke Signals" fame and was narrated by John Trudell.

According to Hornaday, the film is "slick" and "high end" but fails to portray the Native subjects in any depth. "Of course it's impossible for one film to do justice to the breathtaking breadth of the American indigenous experience," she writes. "But in reducing such a storied and diverse reality to a brief survey, the filmmakers have created a portrait that either glides superficially over a complicated history or labors under too much symbolic weight."

Get the Story:
'Thousand Roads': Paved With Good Intentions (The Washington Post 4/12)
pwpwd

Relevant Links:
National Museum of the American Indian - http://www.nmai.si.edu

Related Stories:
NMAI receives singer's 'YMCA' famed gold record (01/13)
NMAI on track to see 4.2M visitors in first year (11/23)
The Nation: NMAI viewed as a 'starting point' (10/22)
Crow horses helped NMAI and Secret Service in DC (10/21)
Opinion: NMAI a testament to power of Natives (10/11)
NMAI not the only place to enjoy Native art in DC (10/01)
University adds museum track to Native program (9/30)
Tim Giago: I'm not a racist and I haven't seen NMAI yet (9/29)
Opinion: Indian museum shows us 'who we destroyed' (9/29)
Editorial: Indian museum needed in the West too (9/29)
NMAI survives big opening week in Washington (9/28)
Yellow Bird: First visit to NMAI proves exciting (9/28)
Bad Eagle: Not all 'Indians' belong in museum (9/28)
Column: Museum reflects change of attitudes (9/28)
Editorial: First Americans finally get due respect (9/28)
Jodi Rave: Mixed emotions surround NMAI opening (9/27)
Navajo Nation feels left out of NMAI festivities (9/27)
President of Peru says Native movement growing (9/27)
Mark Trahant: NMAI must change the story (9/27)
Pember: Opening of NMAI was a day to celebrate (9/27)
Editorial: NMAI honors cultures, past and present (9/27)
Opinion: NMAI exhibits barely scratch the surface (9/27)
Take a sneak peek at the new NMAI in Washington (9/16)
Natives get ready to descend on DC for NMAI fest (9/16)
Non-recognized Virginia tribes welcome NMAI opening (9/16)
NMAI curators seek to translate culture for visitors (9/15)
Agua Caliente Band among largest donors to NMAI (9/15)
Politics on tap for NMAI grand opening week (9/14)
New NMAI nears grand opening in Washington, DC (9/13)
Eastern Cherokees choose 10 events for NMAI exhibit (9/14)
New NMAI nears grand opening in Washington, DC (9/13)
Navajo ethnobotanist part of NMAI design team (9/9)
California tribe featured in opening NMAI exhibit (9/8)
Gaming tribes donated big money for new NMAI (9/8)
New Indian museum to be open to ceremonies (08/19)
NMAI prepares to welcome Native people to DC (08/10)
Use of pipestone at new NMAI prompts complaints (8/6)
New Indian museum in DC promises to be 'different' (8/2)
New NMAI includes focus on urban Indians (07/28)
NMAI: From saving Indians to honoring them (03/18)
Week long festival planned for NMAI opening in Sept. (01/16)