Searching for Sequoyah documentary distributed nationally by American Public Television to premiere on PBS stations in November, 2021.

American Public Television (APT) will distribute the 56-minute documentary film Searching for Sequoyah which will premiere nationally on PBS stations in November, 2021. Searching for Sequoyah was produced by Canadian Ojibway filmmaker James M. Fortier and Choctaw Nation author/filmmaker LeAnne Howe. Howe was also the lead writer with assistance from Fortier and Co-Producer/Host/Narrator, Joshua Nelson (Cherokee Nation). Fortier directed and edited the film. Major funding for the production was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through producing partner and presenter Vision Maker Media. The film was also funded with support from the University of Georgia President’s Venture Fund, the Department of English, and the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Film & Media Studies, with additional support and cooperation from the Cherokee Nation Film Office, Tahlequah, OK, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, also in Tahlequah and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, NC.

Searching for Sequoyah chronicles the life and accomplishments of the legendary 19th century Cherokee visionary, Sequoyah (George Guess), through the oral stories of five modern day Sequoyah descendants. While much is known about Sequoyah's Cherokee writing system or syllabary, very little is known about the man himself. How did this illiterate Cherokee invent a writing system that transformed the future of his people? From Tuskegee, Tennessee to Zaragoza, Mexico, the film Searching for Sequoyah takes viewers on a journey retracing Sequoyah’s final quest to reunite his fellow Cherokees in Mexico, the mystery surrounding his death, and the legacy he left behind. Check your local PBS station for listings for dates and times.