“Skillfully entwining archival footage...[to] methodically fashion a potent history lesson that also is a compelling and complete portrait of Peltier...The final moments might make you smile, or maybe even weep. You’ll still feel very angry, however.”
— Joe Leydon,
“There are happy endings. There are Hollywood endings. And then there is the ending to the new film FREE LEONARD PELTIER...Now the movie has changed its title for advocates, going thrillingly from verb to adjective...Injustice is on its mind, especially with an extradition of Peltier from Canada built on what appears to be an false affidavit, as well as the denials of parole and appeals that in the film’s portrayal are nothing less than a sacrifice of an innocent man on the altar of FBI appeasement.”
— Steven Zeitchik,
“Of all the documentaries at the Sundance film festival this year, perhaps none is as timely as Free Leonard Peltier”
— Adrian Horton,
“The story of Free Leonard Peltier remains an essential piece of evidence of how unjust governments rule over their people. Reminds us that injustice is far harder to escape than some might expect.”
— Alan French,
“A solid, stirring account of the fight to release Peltier... an essential history lesson”
— Ty Burr,
ABOUT THE FILM
LOGLINE
Leonard Peltier was a young leader of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s, when he was convicted of a brutal crime based on falsified evidence. After global outrage and fifty years of failed appeals, FREE LEONARD PELTIER arrives to revive calls for his freedom. This time, things are different.
LONG SYNOPSIS
Acclaimed directors Jesse Short Bull and David France revisit one of the most discredited convictions in modern America to chronicle the five-decade campaign to exonerate the most famous living Native American activist. With astonishing archival footage and AI recreations, the film brings alive the turbulence of the 1970s, when the US government cracked down on the American Indian Movement as it protested centuries of anti-Indian injustice and oppression. Leonard Peltier, one of its leaders, became the most notorious casualty in 1975 when the FBI descended on the Pine Ridge Reservation where he and others were staying. The ensuing shootout left one Indian and two FBI agents dead, and trapped Peltier in a Kafkaesque nightmare no lawyer in 50 years could resolve. In FREE LEONARD PELTIER, a Native-led film crew follows as Native advocates reexamine the case and, in a historic turn of events, finally manage to bring their elder home.
Directors Jesse Short Bull, David France
Producers David France, Jhane Myers, Paul Mcguire, Bird Runningwater
Executive Producers Jodi Archambault, The Schmidt Family Foundation, James Costa, Trevor Burgess, Lekha Singh, Bryn Mooser, Justin Lacob, Laura Choi Raycroft
Co-Executive Producers Kevin Jennings, Illuminative Entertainment, Edgar Villanueva
Co-Producers Jamie Deradorian-Delia, Tomas Naglis, Preston Randolph
Editors Adam Evans, Hannah Vanderlan
Director of Photography Kyle Bell
Composer Mato Wayuhi
FESTIVALS
2025: Sundance (World Premiere)
AWARDS
FIPRESCI Award (Thessaloniki), Amnesty International Award (Thessaloniki), Silver Alexander Award (Thessaloniki)
AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World
EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download
PRESS KIT
Download Press Kit
AVAILABLE PRESS IMAGES (click to preview)
