Films

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. Utilizing astonishing archival footage and computer-rendered 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.

Introduction by Melissa Bisagni (VAFF). Discussion with producer Jhane Myers.