''Black Cloud'' is a 2004 American drama film which was directed and written by Rick Schroder and starred Eddie Spears,

Russel Means Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian political activist, actor, musician, and writer. He became a pr ...

, Julia Jones, Schroder and Tim McGraw, in his film acting debut.

Plot

Black Cloud, a young

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

man, must take a journey of personal growth to prepare himself for a chance at boxing in the Olympics. When Eddie returns to town with the rodeo and wants to rekindle his relationship with Black Cloud's girlfriend Sammi. Black Cloud confronts him and runs into trouble with Sheriff Cliff Powers after beating up Eddie who is Sammi's ex boyfriend and the father of her child, as well as Cliff's nephew. After seeing Black Cloud in a boxing match an Olympic Scout named Norm Olsen offers him a try out for the team of the U.S. Olympics. Black Cloud rejects the offer initially believing that it would be unjust to "fight for the White Man". In trying to apply for Indian housing he and Sammi find out that his great grandfather was from Germany; believing he is cursed by his diluted bloodline, Black Cloud has a falling out with Sammi. He goes to see his grandfather who takes him into the canyons and tells him about his family and the German man who helped his great grandmother after she was raped by several white men, and went by the name White Wolf. Realizing that his bloodline is pure, he decides to come back to Sammi and proposes to her. He gets back into training for the tournament of the Golden Gloves which is coming up, and decides to take up the scout's offer if he wins. The day before the tournament, his best friend is seriously injured in a fight with Eddie and a set of other cowboys which Cliff refuses to arrest. On the day of the tournament, Black Cloud goes through it to the finals where he meets Rocket Ray Tracy, the number one ranked light heavyweight fighter who is hoping to go pro after the tournament.

Cast

* Eddie Spears as Black Cloud *

as Bud * Julia Jones as Sammi * Rick Schroder as Eddie * Tim McGraw as Sheriff Cliff Powers * Marion "Pooch" Hall as Rocket Ray Tracey *

Peter Greene Peter Greene (born Peter Green; October 8, 1965) is an American actor. A character actor, he is generally known for portraying villains. He is best known for the roles in the 1994 films ''The Mask'', where he plays the films antagonist, Dorian ...

as Norm Olsen * Wayne Knight as Mr. Tipping * Nathaniel Arcand as Jimmy * Branscombe Richmond as Peter * Alimi Ballard as Dusty

Release

The film was not picked up for wide release but premiered at the Phoenix Film Festival in April 2004, and was seen at several small festivals including the April 2005 ''Haskell Indian Nations Film Festival'' in Kansas; it marked Schroder's directing debut.

Accolades

The film won the "Best Director Award" at the San Diego Film Festival in October 2004.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0363475 2004 films 2004 drama films American drama films American independent films Films about Native Americans Navajo-language films Films scored by Chad Fischer Films about Olympic boxing 2004 directorial debut films 2004 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films