Drums of the Desert

Desert Kickboxer

November 1992 •English

A kickboxing cop abandons the violent life after he accidentally kills his opponent during a match. After quitting, he heads for the Arizona desert to live alone and occasionally work tracking drug runners for the area sheriff. One particularly wily Mexican drug lord, Santos, has been a real thorn in tracker Joe Highhawk's side, so when he encounters the beautiful Claudia and her simpleton brother Anthony running for their lives because she, an accountant, embezzled $20 million from Santos, he decides to help them. This actioner follows what happens next. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of danger, and double cross until the exciting final standoff between the kickboxer and the villain.

Daughter of the West

February 1949 •English

A convent-raised woman (Martha Vickers) learns of her American Indian heritage through romance with an educated Navajo (Philip Reed) during the 1880s.

Navajo Kid

November 1945 •English

The Navajo Kid goes in search of the villains who murdered his foster-father and stole both ring and watch. The trail leads straight to Canyon City, Texas, and smooth cardsharp Honest John Grogan, who is in possession of both the stolen items. But Grogan has an ironclad alibi for the time of the murder, an alibi confirmed by none other than Sheriff Roy Landon.

Column South

May 1953 •English

In the weeks prior to the start of the Civil War, Confederate sympathizers hope to help their cause by inciting a Navajo war in the New Mexico Territory. Director Frederick de Cordova's 1953 western stars Audie Murphy, Robert Sterling, Joan Evans, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Palmer Lee, Jack Kelly, James Best, Bob Steele and Ralph Moody.

Laughing Boy

April 1934 •English

A young Navajo defies tribal custom to marry an outcast.

Redskin

September 1929 •English

Wing Foot is a Navajo educated in an otherwise all-white school. He experiences prejudice from both the whites (because of his race) and the Navajos (who disown him because of his upbringing). Thus, Wing Foot is looked upon as neither Indian nor white, but simply a "redskin".

A Thousand Roads

January 2005 •English

The film threads together four stories, taking us into the life of a stressed-out Mohawk stockbroker in Manhattan; a young Inupiat girl sent to live with her grandmother in Barrow, Alaska; a Navajo gang member who must find his core values in his reservation on the mesas of New Mexico; and a Quechua healer in Peru, attempting to save a sick child. Each story explores what it means to belong to a specific community. A Thousand Roads is a fictional work, produced by National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) to explore the human context of the NMAI’s collections. The film is striking visually, and presents through its beauty and its stories an imaginative entry into knowing about Native people living in the vast indigenous geography that comprises the Americas. Rather than presenting a conventional historical perspective, the film is composed of short contemporary fictions about individuals, grounding them in emotional truths to which an audience can easily relate.

Grandfather Sky

January 1993 •English

A young Native American man on his way to visit his uncle learns about his Navajo heritage by attending tribal gatherings, traditional ceremonies and listening to old folktales.

Windtalkers

June 2002 •English

Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a "windtalker" - one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.

Two Spirits

June 2009 •English

Fred Martinez was a Navajo youth slain at the age of 16 by a man who bragged to his friends that he 'bug-smashed a fag'. But Fred was part of an honored Navajo tradition - the 'nadleeh', or 'two-spirit', who possesses a balance of masculine and feminine traits.

Drunktown's Finest

January 2014 •English

On a desolate Navajo reservation in New Mexico, three young people – a college-bound, devout Christian; a rebellious and angry father-to-be; and a promiscuous but gorgeous Nádleehi (trans person)- search for love and acceptance.

Into the Grand Canyon

February 2019 •English

Two journalists traverse the Grand Canyon by foot, hoping this 750-mile walk will help them better understand one of America's most revered landscapes and the threats poised to alter it forever.

Racing the Rez

October 2012 •English

After a narrow win hands Tuba City High School their 19th state championship, second place finisher Chinle sets out to topple their rivals and finally claim victory for themselves.

Broken Rainbow

May 1985 •English

Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.

My Name is Hungry Buffalo

October 2017 •Czech

G: Methamphetamine on the Navajo Nation

December 2004 •English

It explores the effect that methamphetamine has had on the Navajo Nation and interviews the people whose lives have been affected by the highly addictive drug.

The Sunchaser

May 1996 •English

A young half-Navajo convict dying of cancer forces a yuppie doctor to drive him to a magic healing lake.

Old New Mexico

October 1940 •English

This Traveltalk series short takes viewers on a tour of old New Mexico. Starting in Santa Fe, the oldest state capitol in the USA, the city existed long before European migration. It's unique architecture is its most prominent feature. There are several archaeological sites trying to date when Indians first settled in the area. Seven percent of the population are of Indian origin. Near Taos is the onetime home of Kit Carson whose grave is one of the sacred shrines of New Mexico. The Navajo live on their 14 million acre reservation and continue their traditional way of life.

Canyon Song

May 2016 •English

This short film follows Tonisha, Toneil and their family as they reclaim their Navajo history and reconnect with ancestors within the canyon walls.

Navajo Blues

October 1996 •English

After police detective Nick Epps witnesses his partner's murder by the Mafia, he's forced enter the witness protection program and is placed on the Navajo Indian Reservation. He tries to settle into his new life, but danger seems to follow him as he becomes involved in a serial killer investigation. Before long, the Mafia tracks him down, and Nick is suddenly trapped between two violent worlds with little hope of escaping alive.