SPECIAL CONTENDERS SEASON SCREENING WITH DIRECTOR DAVID FRANCE & PRODUCER JHANE MYERS IN CONVERSATION WITH REG MACARRO


In the early 1970s, the United States was roiled by protest: Vietnam, women’s rights, gay rights, black power and, rising up at the forefront, the American Indian Movement (AIM). One of its members was Leonard Peltier, a young mechanic who joined the movement to defend and protect his people. In 1975, a shootout between AIM members and FBI agents on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation left two agents and one Native activist dead.

Peltier is then arrested, tried, convicted of their murder and sentenced to two life terms in prison and a subsequent legal battle ensues on the basis of evidence shown to be inconclusive at best, falsified at worst. A Native led-production, FREE LEONARD PELTIER follows the decades-long fight for his freedom, from the controversial trial and multiple failed appeals, to the new generation of Native activists who kept his cause alive.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the shoot out on Pine Ridge, with Peltier still in prison, the FREE LEONARD PELTIER production team revisits the case and advocates for his release. In a historic turn of events, on January 20, 2025 with just 14 minutes left in his time in office, President Biden commuted his sentence.

Directors: Jesse Short Bull, David France (US 2025) 108 min


THIS PROGRAM IS FREE • TICKET(S) REQUIRED
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW TO MEMBERS
GENERAL PUBLIC TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT 4PM ON FRIDAY, OCT. 23

PLEASE NOTE: Seating is limited to theater capacity; a ticket does not guarantee a seat. The theater is overbooked to ensure a full house. Seating will be first come, first served, except for year-round CAFILM pass holders and invited distributor/filmmaker guests.