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Profiles the complex life and work of Edward S. Curtis, the visionary photographer who set out at the turn of the 20th century to capture traditional Native American life on film before it disappeared forever. Over the next thirty years he took over 40,000 photos, creating the greatest photographic record of its kind. When he finished in 1930, his work vanished into obscurity, but was rediscovered in the 1970s. This film presents a complex, dedicated, flawed life, the often-controversial nature of Curtis’s romantic images, and the value of the photographs to Native American people and to the rest of the world today.

“A beautifully crafted epic.” — Newsweek

Sundance Film Festival

Gold Hugo, Chicago International Television Competition

Gold Award, Special Jury Prize, Houston WorldFest

CINE Golden Eagle

Best Documentary, MountainFilm, Telluride

Audience Award, Best Documentary, Aspen Filmfest

Audience Award, Best Documentary, Newport Beach Film Festival

Best Documentary, New Jersey International Film Festival

Best Environmental Film, Vermont International Film Festival

Grand Festival Award, Historical Documentary, Berkeley Film & Video Festival

Award of Commendation, Visual Anthropology Film/Video Festival

Best Documentary, Saguaro International Film Festival

Musée de l’Homme, Paris

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