FARMINGTON – A production more than five years in the making will debut at the Totah Theater this weekend when In The Dirt, a new documentary feature from the lens of T.C. Johnstone has a screening on Saturday night.
“In the Dirt” tells the story of a group of passionate Native American cyclists who attempt to bring the sport of mountain biking to the Navajo Nation, where no bike shops exist.
According to the website promoting the film, the story reflects on retired pro cyclist Scott Nydam, who moved with his family to Gallup in 2018. Soon after their arrival, Scott began meeting passionate mountain bikers across the expanse of the Navajo Nation who loved the bike and wanted to bring the sport to their communities.
The only problem is no bike shops existed.
Through a grassroots, Native-led effort, this group of dedicated cyclists and their families have overcome countless odds to build a cycling culture that today has become the fastest-growing recreational sport on the Navajo Nation.
The documentary had its world premiere on Sept. 29, 2023 at the Crested Butte Film Festival and received numerous awards. The film has also been shown in theaters across the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, as well as at the University of New Mexico and in Santa Fe, Colorado Springs and Santa Cruz, California.
The film also is scheduled to be shown in Denver this month at the Ratio Beer Works and during next month’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, California.
Johnstone, 50, is a multiaward-winning documentary film director and producer. He has produced and directed multiple features and short documentaries including the award-winning film “Rising From Ashes,” executive produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker. The film won 19 film festivals, received U.S. and international distribution and was a catalyst for the creation of the Rising From Ashes Foundation, which continues to support the work of peace and reconciliation.
Johnstone also is the founder of the Gratis 7 Media Group Foundation, which produces films designed to create measurable change in five specific areas; reconciliation, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick and educating the next generation.
Johnstone recalled the difficulties of telling the story on film, which required shooting in rough terrain and during sometimes turbulent moments within the Navajo Nation.
“We had to sit on this project for some time, especially during the height of the pandemic,” Johnstone said. “People are more important than the production, so when COVID locked everything down, we just stopped shooting and worked more on the relationships, talking and connecting with the cast and the crew.”
Those conversations have been released in a series of podcasts, which can be found on the director’s website promoting the film. They include conversations with Nydam as well as coaches and cyclists Frank Cook and Lorenzo Manuelito, who also appear in the film representing the Silver Stallion nonprofit foundation.
“We’d meet in locations where and when we all felt safe and when we felt it was appropriate,” Johnstone said. “It was scary because seeing the effects of the pandemic up close was something completely new to me.”
Silver Stallion, based in Gallup, works with kids on the Navajo Nation to develop positive relationships, healthy lifestyles and bicycle skills development.
“The cast of this film is a bunch of amazing people who have the character to overcome some incredible obstacles,” Johnstone said.
Besides the pandemic, crews had to overcome the logistical difficulties of shooting the cycling scenes in difficult terrain.
“There’s no easy way to get to these locations, it required an immense amount of travel and getting equipment to and from these locations,” Johnstone said. “But to so many of these bikers, the Navajo Nation is like the Disneyland of mountain biking.”
This is not Johnstone’s first foray into storytelling of cycling, whether it be in the mountain bike community or on the international stage.
“Rising from Ashes” is a feature-length documentary about cycling legend Jock Boyer, who moves to Rwanda, Africa, to help a group of struggling genocide survivors pursue their dream of a national team. As they set out against impossible odds, both Boyer and the team find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past.
Right now, Johnstone is finishing production of a film on the life of Dave Mirra, who competed as a BMX rider and set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the X Games. He earned at least one BMX medal at the event in all but one year from the competition’s inception in 1995 until 2009.
Mirra died in 2016, just months before he was inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame.
“I’m a cyclist, and I’ve found that cycling is just a venue for great stories,” Johnstone said. “Telling these stories from a factual, historical standpoint and from the basics of the bike is what allows us to meet in the middle around something where the story lies.”
The showing of “In the Dirt” on Saturday night will be held in conjunction with a variety of events throughout the day. At noon, weather permitting, there will be a bike ride with Farmington Area Singletrack riders at the Glade Run Recreation Area.
The screening of the film will be preceded by a reception beginning at 7 p.m. at the Totah, with the film at 8 p.m., then a question-and-answer session with the cast and crew.
Admission to the screening is free. For more information, check out the city of Farmington’s website for upcoming events.
