Ancestral Passage — Createspace

A Screenplay. Talia, a smart Navajo student, lives on an Indian Reservation while attending a modern, urban church. Native American university classes open her eyes to the damage Christianity inflicted on the tribe causing tensions to grow between her and her “schizophrenic,” legend-telling, bible-teaching father. With scholastic eloquence she buries any notion of a Native American �" Israeli tribal connection and looks instead for her origins across the Baring Straits. Mounting peer tension pushes Talia to completely ditch her faith. Redirected funds for the much-anticipated Silk Road trip vanish, inciting Talia's own mad journey back to her genetic kin - the nomads of Central Asia. After days on the road, she sells her pick-up, buys passage across the Baring Straight, onto the Trans Siberian, and eventually lands in Muslim Kyrgyzstan - the origin of her forefathers' chromosomes. Along the way an old Native tells her that tribal people are a last hope for planet earth. Baring Strait icebergs remind Talia of her father's “creation myths.” Siberians speak about a lost golden ark, a book like the Torah, and their belief in a messianic type of hero. Kyrgyzstan welcomes their “lost sister” and entrusts Talia to a pretty journalist who presents Talia with Kyrgyzstan's own “Wounded Knee” tragedy. Talia's televised interview enrages a foreign warlord who notices Talia piecing together ancient cultures with biblical nomads. Jazz, the gorgeous journalist, sweeps Talia away to a yurt camp in the mountains. Talia fits in so naturally that one young shepherd doesn't realize she is foreign - even after a romantic horse ride. Talia's drift from Christianity solidifies; even as she observes legends and customs that mirror the biblical prophets. In Arizona her dad's struggle with his pastor intensifies as he copes with Talia's (the college's Miss Indian's) publicized disappearance. Extremists in Kyrgyzstan, who must destroy the “pagan Indian girl” to keep freedom loving nomads in a doctrinal grip, track and catch Talia and Jazz. Using obscure Koranic verses learned in captivity, Talia is able to create enough havoc to secure Jazz's release. But the main warlord keeps his focus, forcing Talia to denounce Christianity and accept Islam, which she does. When told to denounce the ancient biblical oracles, she can't - she is unable to dismiss tribal cheifs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Within days a jittery web-site video portrays her execution. Kyrgyzstan and Arizona mourn her death, but a year later beautiful Jazz brings good news and a unique invitation to the Indian Reservation. The story is tracked through the eyes of a Jewish consular caught between loyalties. His mission: to find Talia before moving on to wrap up peace accords in the Middle East.