'Winter in the Blood' plans October Hi-Line showing

"Winter In the Blood," the movie made from James Welch's novel of the same name, will probably be shown in Havre sometime in October.

The movie was filmed on the Hi-Line, mostly in Havre, Chinook and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Chaske Spencer, raised in Montana and Idaho, stars in the film, playing the role of Virgil First Raise, an alcoholic who struggled with life during his exploits at his home at Fort Belknap and in Havre.

Montana Film Commissioner Deny Staggs said Spencer is on another project, and won't be free until October.

"They didn't want to have the Hi-Line showing until Chaske could be there," he said.

Many Hi-Line residents are in the movie — many in bit parts, but some in substantial roles.

The film opened in Missoula, the home of co-directors Alex and Andrew Smith, where it was well received.

It later played at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and won the Grand Prize at the First People's Film Festival.

The movie won acclaim “for bringing to the screen, boldly and faithfully, a major work marking the flowering of contemporary Amerindian literature,” said festival organizer André Dudemaine.