FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September, 2009
CONTACT: Steven R. Heape
214-696-6916

Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy - Best Documentary

Dallas, TX. Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy has been selected by Indie Fest USA Film Festival, as the Best Documentary during the awards ceremony held August 28, 2009 at the Disneyland Hotel, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA. Rich-Heape Films most recent documentary release, Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School was also an Official Festival Selection and nominated in the Best Documentary category. Both Films to date have garnered more than 25 prestigious awards including Best Documentary at the 31st American Indian Film Festival, the CINE Golden Eagle and Silver World Medal's from the New York Festivals.

The Journal of American History states that "Trail of Tears Cherokee Legacy will remain the definitive film treatment of the subject for years to come. It is an eloquent retelling of an important chapter in early American history, and it deserves to be viewed widely."

Trail of Tears Cherokee Legacy, narrated by James Earl Jones, with on-camera presenter, actor Wes Studi, was shot on location in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia and Kentucky. The film explores America's darkest period: President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced removal of the Cherokee to Oklahoma in 1838.

Both films were screened at the Disney AMC 12 in the Downtown Disney district of Anaheim, Monday August 24, 2009. Steven R. Heape, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Executive Producer of Rich-Heape Films attended the event. "It is truly a great honor to have a film documenting Native American history win such a prestigious, main stream film festival."

Rich-Heape Films, Inc., 5952 Royal Lane, Suite 254-4, Dallas, Texas 75230 Toll Free: 888-600-2922 or 214 696-6916 - www.richheape.com