Belgrad
American Identities
Discussion Questions for Smoke Signals
1. What is the role of storytelling in this film? What kind of authority does it have? What do you
think the film is saying about the relationship between stories and “the truth”?
2. A good deal of the film takes place in the past, either through Victor’s flashbacks or Thomas’s
stories. What is the role of the past in the film? How does it relate to the theme of “fatherhood,”
particularly Native American fatherhood? How does fire function as a symbol in this regard?
3. The film often addresses the stereotype of the stoic and “real” Native American. How do the
characters in the film reinforce or defy this image? How are traditional symbols of mainstream
America repurposed by Native Americans in the film?
4. Music has a central place film, both through characters singing or playing instruments and
the additional soundtrack. Were there any musical selections in the film that stood out to you,
and why?
5. There are moments in the film where, as in
Three Women
, conversations cross paths in
acoustic space and the meanings of words are changed in the process. Do Thomas and Victor in
this space form one dyadic identity?
