Forgotten Founder: New Documentary Reclaims Samson Occom’s Role in Dartmouth’s Origins
Premieres April 11 at Boston International Film Festival
A powerful new documentary, Forgotten Founder: The Untold Story of Samson Occom and Dartmouth, will make its world premiere on April 11 at the Boston International Film Festival, bringing long-overdue recognition to a Native leader whose story has been hidden in plain sight for more than 250 years.
The film uncovers the extraordinary life of Samson Occom, a Mohegan minister, scholar, and diplomat whose fundraising efforts in 18th-century England directly enabled the founding of Dartmouth College—yet whose contributions were largely erased from the institution’s official narrative.
Blending historical reenactment with contemporary voices from the Mohegan community and leading scholars, Forgotten Founder tells a story of vision, betrayal, resilience, and cultural survival.
“Without that effort, without that funding, this place may not have been born,” says Bruce Duthu in the film. “I really do see him as a founder of Dartmouth.”
Through intimate interviews, the documentary traces Occom’s journey from a traditional Mohegan upbringing—learning to hunt, fish, and carve—to mastering English, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. It follows his rise as the first ordained Native minister in the English-speaking world and his groundbreaking work in Indigenous education, including innovative teaching methods that predate modern classroom techniques.
But Forgotten Founder does not shy away from difficult truths.
As Occom traveled across England and Scotland raising what would amount to £12,000 for an “Indian school,” the film reveals how those funds were ultimately diverted by Eleazar Wheelock to establish a college that largely excluded Native students—leaving Occom feeling “betrayed” and his family neglected.
“It’s all about dispossession, erasure, forgetting,” Duthu reflects.
Grounded in the voices of Mohegan leaders including Beth Regan and Sarah Harris, the film emphasizes that Occom’s story is not confined to the past.
“In Mohegan language, our ancestors are alive. We feel them. We know them,” Regan says. “Occom is still with us.”
The documentary also highlights the enduring impact of Occom’s legacy—from the founding vision of Indigenous education to the eventual resurgence of Native students at Dartmouth in the 20th century, and the ongoing effort to confront historical injustice.
At its core, Forgotten Founder is both a reckoning and a reclamation—challenging audiences to reconsider who gets remembered in history, and why.
The film is co-directed by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, a Mohegan Tribe member and Council of Elders leader, and filmmaker Signe Taylor, who was born and raised in Cambridge.
Premiere Details:
Forgotten Founder: The Untold Story of Samson Occom and Dartmouth
April 11, 2026 at 7:15PM
Boston International Film Festival (Boston, Massachusetts)
https://www.bostoniff.com/event/session-6/
About the Filmmakers
Co-director and Writer Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel: The Vice-Chairwoman for the Mohegan Tribal Council of Elders, Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel is a storyteller and widely published author. Her film work includes writing Flying Bird Diary (2024) and Up and Down the River (2025) as well as Executive Producing the television show The Green Veil starring John Leguizamo. As the Writer and Director of Forgotten Founder, Melissa is proud to share the story of her ancestor Samson Occom.
To learn more, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Tantaquidgeon_Zobel
Co-director and Editor Signe Taylor: An award-winning filmmaker, Signe Taylor directed Circus Dreams, a feature documentary about a traveling youth circus, and It’s Criminal, a feature documentary that highlights privilege and inequalities and offers a vision for how to overcome them. Both films were well-received at film festivals and nationally broadcast. As a member of the Media Production Group at Dartmouth, Signe is honored to be partnering with Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel and the Mohegan Tribe to share the eye-opening story of Samson Occom.
To learn more, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signe_Taylor; https://www.circusdreams.net/; https://www.itiscriminal.com/
About the Boston International Film Festival
The Boston International Film Festival is an annual celebration of independent cinema, showcasing a diverse lineup of films from around the world. Known for highlighting compelling storytelling and emerging voices, the festival provides a platform for filmmakers to engage with audiences and industry professionals alike in the heart of Boston.