By Marcia Kuszmaul

Homer Independent Press

The Alaska film that won Grand Prize at the 1979 Sundance Film Festival (then Utah/US Film Festival), “Spirit of the Wind” will have two screenings in Homer at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Wed., March 4, at The Porcupine.

Shot in Fairbanks and newly converted to DCP (Digital Cinema Package), “Spirit of the Wind” follows the story of George Attla, the sprint dog musher known as the “Huslia Hustler.” Attla, a young Athabascan born near the confluence of the Koyukuk and Huslia rivers, contracts tuberculosis and, after years in sanitariums in Tanana and Sitka, returns home with a fused knee to find his place in the community and to become the champion of Alaska legend.

Over a 53-year career, Attla won ten Fur Rendezvous championships and eight Open North American championships. Though primarily a sprint racer, Attla also placed fourth in the first running of the Iditarod in 1973.

The film was shot over the course of a year and follows four seasons of natural beauty and native life. All Native characters are portrayed by Native actors, including Attla’s sister, cast as their mother.

“It’s a gorgeous movie, an epic film on the big screen,” said Susannah Webster, co-owner of The Porcupine in a Feb. 20 phone interview. “It’s not available on streaming platforms and until now (since creation of the digital master) it couldn’t be shown in theaters because they don’t have the equipment to run 35mm anymore.”

In addition to its Sundance prize, “Spirit of the Wind” was honored with an Un Certain Regard selection at the Cannes Film Festival, the Humanism in Cinema Award at the Moscow Film Festival and Best Picture, Director, Actor and Cinematography at the American Indian Film Festival.

In Alaska, when the film debuted, it outgrossed the biggest films that year, including “Alien” and “Star Trek,” Director Ralph Liddle said in a Feb. 20 phone interview.

“I first read about George Attla in ‘Reader’s Digest,’ of all places,” Liddle said. “He was a larger than life character, a powerful personality and a strong advocate for positive information about Native Americans. He became very active in moving the project forward.”

Attla was key to securing funds from Doyon Limited, the regional Alaska Native corporation for Interior Alaska, to finance the film.

Liddle himself has close ties to Alaska. He came to the state in 1968 as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, serving as a recreational therapist in Valdez, had a home in Juneau and has visited Homer.

“Homer has always been so charming,” he said. “It’s always had the reputation of a really interesting, authentic Alaskan community.”

The screenings are included in Porcupine membership. Individual tickets are $15 for adults with discounts for military and first responders and $12 for youth.