Production Notes of Thunderheart

From left to right; Graham Greene, John Fusco and Val Kilmer

Shot on location at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1991. This is the first feature film shot on that location. Pine Ridge is the second largest reservation in North America, with a population of about 18,000.

Thunderheart grossed nearly $23 million at the domestic box office. The film employed over 250 Native American extras. Former American Indian Movement chairman John Trudell plays the part of the FBI suspect, Jimmy Looks Twice. Trudell was head of AIM when Leonard Peltier was convicted.

He met director Michael Apted while working on Incident at Oglala. Trudell is also a musician and poet. The film is partially based on screenwriter-producer John Fusco’s experiences as an adopted relative of the Oglala Nation. He spent five years at Pine Ridge and met the Oglala Sioux medicine man, Chief Frank Fools Crow, who became the inspiration for the character of Grandpa Reaches.