PABLO — Free public screenings of filmmaker George Sibley’s newest film “Shadows of David Thompson” were hosted by Salish Kootenai College at the Johnny Arlee-Victor Charlo Theatre on March 26.

The film centers around the historical North American explorer David Thompson who paddled, rode and walked from Hudson Bay to the Pacific Ocean, crossing and re-crossing the Rocky Mountains.

“Before there were airplanes, no one had explored more of North America than David Thompson,” Sibley said while introducing the film. “This is part of David Thompson country here.”

Thompson was a western fur trader and later helped mark the boundary between the U.S. and Canada as an unprecedented cartographer. From 1807 to 1812, Thompson opened the first trading posts in what are now British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington.

Sibley said he had received help over the years making this film from many people from many western states and provinces, adding that audience members would undoubtedly see neighbors and friends appearing in the film as experts and actors.

“Shadows of David Thompson” is being released on DVD in 2009 and will be shown this summer at museums and historic sites along Thompson’s old environments. KSKC Public TV director Frank Tyro — who also appears in the film — said the movie will be broadcasted on KSKC later this summer and is also being considered for broadcast on PBS.

Last week’s free public screenings were sponsored by KSKC Public TV.