Up Heartbreak Hill

Thomas and Tamara are track stars at their rural New Mexico high school. Like many teenagers, they are torn between the lure of brighter futures elsewhere and the ties that bind them to home. For these teens, however, home is an impoverished town on the Navajo reservation, and leaving means separating from family, tradition and the land that has been theirs for generations.

Thomas introduces us to Navajo, New Mexico, the reservation he lives on. He describes the challenges that accompany living on a reservation, but emphasizes the sense of home and the legacy that ties him to the land.

Tamara, a bright and hard-working student at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, NM, dreams of going to college and furthering her education.

As Thomas gets ready to embark on his life after high school, which may include leaving the Navajo reservation, his family holds a traditional meeting for him.

Tamara and Thomas, two students living on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, graduate ready to go on to college.

Gabby lives on the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico. She dreams of going to college and becoming a photographer, but faces many challenges as many Native American youth do in following their dreams.

Erica Scharf discusses the filmmaking process behind 'Up Heartbreak Hill,' and her subjects' reactions to seeing the film.