Birthplace: Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Oregon, USA
biography
An Indian of Cheyenne-Arapaho descent, Chris Eyre grew up as the adoptive son of white parents in Portland, OR. He re-established ties to his heritage at the age of 18 and later tracked down his birth mother in an effort to come to terms with his heritage. While attending NYU's graduate film school, Eyre wrote and directed "Tenacity" (1995), a short centered on a pair of Indian boys who encounter a group of rednecks. "Tenacity" received several prizes and grants allowing the screenwriter-director to approach Indian author Sherman Alexie and express interest in adapting several of his short
Traveled to Oklahoma at the age of 18 to receive tribal diploma, officially joining the Cheyenne-Arapaho
1994
Wrote and directed short film "Tenacity"; shown at 1995 Sundance Film Festival
1995
Together with writer Sherman Alexie, began develping material at the Sundance Filmmakers and Screenwriter's Lab, resulting in the short, "Somebody Kept Saying Powwow", culled from the second act of the longer script that would become "Smoke Signals"
1996
Became the US recipient of the Cinema 100/Sundance International Award
