11am November 20th, 2011

Up Heartbreak Hill chronicles the lives of Thomas, Tamara and Gabby - three Native American teenagers in Navajo, New Mexico - as they navigate their senior year at a reservation high school.  As graduation nears, they must decide whether to stay in their community - a place inextricably woven into the fiber of their being - or leave in pursuit of opportunities elsewhere.  Largely isolated from mainstream America, they hesitate to separate from their families and traditions, rooted to home in equal parts by love, obligation and fear.  Tribal elders urge members of the younger generation to leave - acquire an education or learn a trade - and return home with the skills to help their people.  But, with an unemployment rate near 58% and a per capita income under $4,600, Navajo has few prospects. Thomas, Tamara and Gabby struggle to reconcile their desires with their sense of obligation to the community that helps define them.  Their battles to shape their identities as both Native American and modern American lie at the heart of the film.