John Trudell

Acting

John Trudell

Born February 15, 1946 · Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Died December 8, 2015 · aged 69

John Trudell was an American Indian author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After his pregnant wife, three children and mother-…

Known For

ThunderheartThunderheart · 1992
Thunderheart
6.31992
MovieCrimeMystery
A young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
Extreme MeasuresExtreme Measures · 1996
Extreme Measures
6.01996
MovieDramaThriller
Guy Luthan, a British doctor working at a hospital in New York, starts making unwelcome enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency room disappears. After the trail leads Luthan to the door of an eminent surgeon at the hospital, Luthan soon finds himself in extreme danger people who want the hospital's secret to remain undiscovered.
TrudellTrudell · 2005
Trudell
5.72005
MovieDocumentary
A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances, and politics.
On Deadly GroundOn Deadly Ground · 1994
On Deadly Ground
5.21994
MovieActionAdventure
Forrest Taft is an environmental agent who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil's corrupt CEO is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land—just as long as it's making money for him.
DreamkeeperDreamkeeper · 2003
Dreamkeeper
6.72003
MovieFantasyDrama
In South Dakota, in an Indian reservation, an old storyteller Indian asks his grandson Shane, who is in trouble owing money to some bad guys, to take his old pony and him to Albuquerque to the great powwow, an Indian meeting. While traveling, Grandpa tells mysterious Indian tales of love, friendship and magic.
The 11th HourThe 11th Hour · 2007
The 11th Hour
6.72007
MovieDocumentaryDrama
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse
Smoke SignalsSmoke Signals · 1998
Smoke Signals
6.81998
MovieDramaComedy
Young Native American man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold. Arnold soon left his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains.
Incident at OglalaIncident at Oglala · 1992
Incident at Oglala
7.21992
MovieDocumentaryCrime
On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.

Movies

ThunderheartThunderheart · 1992
Thunderheart
6.31992
MovieCrimeMystery
A young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
Extreme MeasuresExtreme Measures · 1996
Extreme Measures
6.01996
MovieDramaThriller
Guy Luthan, a British doctor working at a hospital in New York, starts making unwelcome enquiries when the body of a man who died in his emergency room disappears. After the trail leads Luthan to the door of an eminent surgeon at the hospital, Luthan soon finds himself in extreme danger people who want the hospital's secret to remain undiscovered.
TrudellTrudell · 2005
Trudell
5.72005
MovieDocumentary
A chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell's travels, spoken word performances, and politics.
On Deadly GroundOn Deadly Ground · 1994
On Deadly Ground
5.21994
MovieActionAdventure
Forrest Taft is an environmental agent who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil's corrupt CEO is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land—just as long as it's making money for him.
DreamkeeperDreamkeeper · 2003
Dreamkeeper
6.72003
MovieFantasyDrama
In South Dakota, in an Indian reservation, an old storyteller Indian asks his grandson Shane, who is in trouble owing money to some bad guys, to take his old pony and him to Albuquerque to the great powwow, an Indian meeting. While traveling, Grandpa tells mysterious Indian tales of love, friendship and magic.
The 11th HourThe 11th Hour · 2007
The 11th Hour
6.72007
MovieDocumentaryDrama
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse
Smoke SignalsSmoke Signals · 1998
Smoke Signals
6.81998
MovieDramaComedy
Young Native American man Thomas is a nerd in his reservation, wearing oversize glasses and telling everyone stories no-one wants to hear. His parents died in a fire in 1976, and Thomas was saved by Arnold. Arnold soon left his family, and Victor hasn't seen his father for 10 years. When Victor hears Arnold has died, Thomas offers him funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains.
Incident at OglalaIncident at Oglala · 1992
Incident at Oglala
7.21992
MovieDocumentaryCrime
On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.
Powwow HighwayPowwow Highway · 1989
Powwow Highway
6.81989
MovieDramaComedy
Two Northern Cheyenne men take a road trip from Montana to New Mexico to bail out the sister of one of them who has been framed and arrested in Santa Fe. On the way, they begin to reconnect to their spiritual heritage.
Dark BloodDark Blood · 2012
Dark Blood
6.02012
MovieThriller
Filmed in 1993 but never completed due to River Phoenix's death, Dark Blood tells the story of Boy, a young widower living on a nuclear testing site in the desert. Boy is waiting for the end of the world and carves Katchina dolls that supposedly contain magical powers. Boy's solitude is interrupted when a Hollywood jet-set couple who are travelling across the desert become stranded after their car breaks down. The couple are rescued by Boy, who then holds them prisoner because of his desire for the woman and his ambition to create a better world with her.
Reel InjunReel Injun · 2010
Reel Injun
7.02010
MovieDocumentaryHistory
The evolution of the depiction of the various Native American peoples in cinema, from the silent era to the present day: how their image on the screen has changed the way to understand their history and culture.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the WorldRumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World · 2017
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World
7.62017
MovieMusicDocumentary
Documentary about the role of Native Americans in popular music history, a little-known story built around the incredible lives and careers of the some of the greatest music legends.
Making a Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie RobertsonMaking a Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie Robertson · 1999
Making a Noise: A Native American Musical Journey with Robbie Robertson
7.01999
MovieMusicDocumentary
This doc explores "The Band" guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson's Native American background. Half Mohawk on his mother's side, the film follows him back to the Six Nations reservation in Ontario where he spent summers growing up and picked up his first guitar. The resulting album, "Contact From the Underworld of Red Boy", draws on his childhood First Nation influences and includes musical collaborations wth Native artists such as John Trudell, Rita Coolidge and Buffy Ste Marie.
Lakota Nation vs. United StatesLakota Nation vs. United States · 2022
Lakota Nation vs. United States
6.22022
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Poet Layli Long Soldier crafts a searing portrait of her Oyate’s connection to the Black Hills, through first contact and broken treaties to the promise of the Land Back movement, in this lyrical testament to resilience of a nation.
Warrior: The Life of Leonard PeltierWarrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier · 1991
Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier
10.01991
MovieDocumentary
An intimate exploration of the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977, with commentary from those involved, including Peltier himself.
A Thousand RoadsA Thousand Roads · 2005
A Thousand Roads
9.02005
MovieDrama
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.
Taking AlcatrazTaking Alcatraz · 2015
Taking Alcatraz
2015
MovieDocumentary
A documentary account by award-winning filmmaker John Ferry of the events that led up to the 1969 Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island as told by principal organizer, Adam Fortunate Eagle. The story unfolds through Fortunate Eagle's remembrances, archival newsreel footage and photographs.
No More Smoke SignalsNo More Smoke Signals · 2009
No More Smoke Signals
4.02009
MovieDocumentary
Kili Radio - "Voice of the Lakota Nation" - is broadcast out of a small wooden house that sits isolated on a hill, lost in the vast countryside of South Dakota. It’s a place that’s long forgotten; lying at the crossroads between combat and hope, between the American dream and daily existence on America’s poorest reservation. Yet we find people like Roxanne Two Bulls, who’s trying to start over again on the land of her ancestors; the young DJ Derrick who’s discovering his gift for music; Bruce, the white lawyer who for thirty years has been trying to free a militant who’s been fighting for American Indian rights; and finally John Trudell, an old AIM activist who’s made a career for himself as a musician in Hollywood. Everything converges at Kili Radio. Instead of sending smoke signals the radio station transmits its own signals across a vast and ... (from the webpage)
America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass PrairieAmerica's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie · 2005
America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie
2005
MovieDocumentary
America's Lost Landscape: The Tallgrass Prairie tells the rich and complex story of one of the most astonishing alterations of nature in human history. Prior to Euro-American settlement in the 1820s, one of the major landscape features of North America was 240 million acres of tallgrass prairie. But between 1830 and 1900 - in the space of a single lifetime - the tallgrass prairie was steadily transformed to farmland. This drastic change in the landscape also brought about an enormous social change for Native Americans; in an equally short time their cultural imprint was reduced in essence to a handful of place-names appearing on maps. America's Lost Landscape examines the record of human struggle, triumph, and defeat that prairie history exemplifies, including the history and culture of America's aboriginal inhabitants. The story of how and why the prairie was changed by Euro-American settlement is thoughtfully nuanced.

TV Shows

The WestThe West · 1996
The West
8.41996
SeriesDocumentary
The West, sometimes marketed as Ken Burns Presents: The West, is a documentary film about the American Old West. It was directed by Stephen Ives and the executive producer was Ken Burns. The film originally aired on PBS in September 1996.
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie MaeVow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae · 2024
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae
8.72024
SeriesDocumentaryCrime
This true crime docuseries examines the murder of Annie Mae Aquash – a Mi'kmaq woman from Nova Scotia, Canada, a mother of two daughters, a teacher, and a revolutionary who fought for Indigenous rights in the 1970s whose death went unsolved for almost 30 years.
DreamkeeperDreamkeeper · 2003
Dreamkeeper
5.02003
SeriesDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
The legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.