For five decades, Leonard Peltier’s name has been synonymous with a pivotal moment in modern Native American history. Using a mix of contemporary interviews, archival footage, and AI recreations, Oglala Lakota filmmaker Jesse Short Bull (Lakota Nation vs. United States, DocLands 2023) and David France bring to life the turbulent era of the American Indian Movement (AIM), when Indigenous activists rose up against oppression, and the US government responded with force.
The film traces Peltier’s journey—from Indian boarding schools to his involvement with AIM to the deadly 1975 Pine Ridge shootout with FBI agents that led to his conviction. With evidence long challenged as falsified or inconclusive, Peltier became a global symbol of political imprisonment. (As the film was set to premiere at Sundance, President Biden commuted his sentence, leading to his release on February 18, 2025.) Free Leonard Peltier revisits his case in a new era, examining the forces that shaped his story and its lasting impact.

Free Leonard Peltier received three awards at the recent 2025 Thessaloniki Film Festival, including the International Competition Silver Alexander (for directing), the International Amnesty Award, and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Documentary in the International Competition.