‘Finding Hózhǫ́’: Travis Holt Hamilton’s newest film explores forgiveness, culture and pursuit of peace across Dinétah
Courtesy | Holt Hamilton Films
Director Travis Holt Hamilton (center) works with cast and crew on the set of Finding Hózhǫ́ during filming in northern Arizona. The poignant and thought-provoking film explores the complexities of forgiveness and healing.
By Kyle Leslie
Navajo Times
GALLUP
The clouds parted just as the cameras rolled.
For a moment, the gray sky above Dinétah opened, and sunlight spilled through, casting the scene in soft gold. Director Travis Holt Hamilton stood behind the monitor, watching as the lead actor, “Secody,” a 70-year-old veteran learning to forgive his father, knelt in prayer. The wind lifted the trees, the light intensified and then it was gone.
“We were like, ‘I don’t know if we got it, but I hope it happens,’” Hamilton recalled. “We waited a while longer to try to catch something and never did. But just those little moments. And then going into the edit, we found out we had exactly what we needed.”
That rare scene of sun and wind now anchors “Finding Hózhǫ́,” Hamilton’s most personal film to date, a story born from the quiet question he asked himself a decade ago: If I could make one last movie, what would it be?
“It just ended up being a story of forgiveness,” he said.
To read the full article, please see the Nov. 6, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow