''Broken Rainbow'' is a 1985 American
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
by Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd.
Summary
The film is about the history of
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 ...
Native Americans, focusing on the government enforced relocation of thousands from
Black Mesa in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
after the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act. According to the film, the Navajo were relocated to aid
mining speculation in a process that began in 1964. The film is narrated by
Martin Sheen
Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
. The title song was written by
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...
, the theme music was composed by
Paul Apodaca
Paul Apodaca (born in Los Angeles, California) is an associate professor of Anthropology and American Studies at Chapman University.
Personal background
Apodaca was born in Los Angeles and raised in Tustin, California. His father's family were f ...
, with other original music by Rick Krizman and Fred Myrow.
Accolades
It won the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
at the
58th Academy Awards
The 58th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 1986, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. Durin ...
.
See also
*
Black Mesa Peabody Coal controversy
Peabody Energy coal mining operations in the Black Mesa plateau of the Four Corners region in the western United States began in the 1960s and ended in 2019. The plateau overlaps the reservations of the Navajo and Hopi Tribes.
Controversy arose ...
*
Wounded Knee incident
The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied ...
*
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...
References
External links
*
*
''Broken Rainbow''at Earthworks Films
The entire film on YouTube{{AcademyAwardBestDocumentaryFeature1981-2000
1985 films
Navajo-language films
American documentary films
Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners
Documentary films about Arizona
Documentary films about indigenous rights
Documentary films about United States history
1985 documentary films
Documentary films about mining
Documentary films about Native Americans
Films set in Arizona
Films set on the Navajo Nation
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
1985 multilingual films
American multilingual films