Award winning documentary film, "Return of the Horse," by Sharón Eliashar and Leo Hubbard, will be shown on Thursday, Jan. 17 from 6 - 8:30 p.m. in the Hibben Center. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

"We are beginning the semester with a bang the first week of classes, with a mini seminar and screening of Sharón Eliashar's award winning film," said Enrique Lamadrid, chair, Department of Spanish and Portuguese. "She offers it as definitive proof that caballus equus is not some exotic newcomer to North America, but is in fact the oldest native mammal species here."

Also featured will be a discussion on the natural and cultural history of the North American mustang with directors, environmental and community historians Dan Flores, environmental and cultural historian, Hammond Chair of Western History at the University of Montana; and Lorenzita Taylor, Cochiti Pueblo elder and Keres language and culture teacher in the Bernalillo Public Schools.

This event is sponsored by the Alfonso Center for Intercultural Studies, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Center for the Southwest and the Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media Program.

Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu