Premiered at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, this remarkable first feature went on to screen at the San Francisco Film Festival, where it inspired this critical response from the San Francisco Chronicle's Judy Stone:
“Alaska, to say the least, is a dramatic land; and to a California city dweller living amidst fair weather, traffic, convenience stores and a plentitude of housing, the primitive ways of the remote Athabascan Indians are utterly heroic.
“These factors alone might be enough to sustain a reel or two of film, but young director Ralph Liddle has provided a lot more in his stunning Spirit of the Wind... the powerful story of a young man who overcomes crippling odds and emerges as a hero. It is a heroism that praises human life, regardless of locale.
“Spirit of the Wind is the biography of a real man, George Attla, who became the world dog sledding champion....
“Liddle has sensitively woven the threads of an inspiring human drama in Spirit of the Wind. The drama is heightened by the unaffected dialogue and down-to-earth acting.
“The star, Pius Savage (he was an Alaskan pipeline worker until his wife persuaded him to try out for Spirit of the Wind), is an able actor; and George Clutesi, 74 years old, plays soundly as Attla's father.
“In addition, there is no end to clear and dramatic photography by John Logue, and the musical scoring and performances by Will Ackerman and Buffy Sainte-Marie add to the poignancy of this most unusual movie.”