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EXCLUSIVE: The award-winning documentary Free Leonard Peltier screens at the world-renowned International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on Friday – but it won’t be the same version that premiered at Sundance last January. The film directed by David France and Jesse Short Bull has been updated with dramatic new footage of Peltier, the American Indian Movement leader, recorded as he walked out of prison where he had been held for almost 50 years after his conviction in the killing of two FBI agents. President Biden, in the last 15 minutes of his term before Pres. Trump was sworn in on January 20, made the momentous decision to commute Peltier’s sentence. In the clip above, you can watch some of the new material incorporated in the updated version of Free Leonard Peltier that will be shown at IDFA. “On February 18, 30 days after the commutation and almost 50 years behind bars, Leonard leaves prison and finally goes home to North Dakota, albeit under house arrest,” notes a release. “The Native-led production quickly went back to film his release and his return home, resulting in a new cut which made its new world premiere in Woodstock… and will be making its European premiere at IDFA.” Peltier, 81, published a memoir while behind bars, Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance. Across the decades, among those who urged his release include the Dalai Lama, Robert Redford (the late Sundance Film Festival founder who produced the 1992 documentary about Peltier, Incident at Oglala), Nelson Mandela, and Mother Theresa. Peltier’s “conviction was based in part on evidence presented by the FBI that was likely falsified, as this richly documented plea for his release shows,” IDFA writes in its program. “A large part of the documentary is devoted to Peltier’s involvement with the American Indian Movement and the injustices he and his fellow activists fought against,” the IDFA program continues. “Many Native American children were forcibly sent to boarding schools by the U.S. government, where they were subjected to ‘re-education’. Their testimonies reflect a long history of racism and dispossession. Peltier himself, who could not be filmed in prison, appears in archival interview footage. Particularly striking are the scenes of protests and the preparations for them beforehand. “Now elderly, the activists remain as militant as ever. Their deep sense of despair and anger has not faded—nor has their fear, as the state remains a powerful adversary. And yet, optimism and solidarity continue to sustain their struggle.” Free Leonard Peltier won three awards at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece: the Silver Alexander in International Competition, the FIPRESCI Prize selected by international critics, and the Amnesty International Award for Best Human Rights Film. Free Leonard Peltier is produced by David France, Jhane Myers, Paul Mcguire, Bird Runningwater, and Nika Soon-Shiong. Executive producers include Jodi Archambault, The Schmidt Family Foundation, James Costa, Trevor Burgess, Lekha Singh, Bryn Mooser, Justin Lacob, and Laura Choi Raycroft. Watch a clip of new footage from Free Leonard Peltier above.
