'Free Leonard Peltier' Film Receives Standing Ovations, Begins Free Rez Tour

Standing Ovations and Global Awards for the New 'Free Leonard Peltier' Film

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 11, 2025

The new 'Free Leonard Peltier' film received standing ovations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a special presentation by Leonard Peltier and Dino Butler. The film reveals the history of the movement and exposes details previously unknown.

The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and was shown at festivals in Australia and Greece, with an upcoming screening in Warsaw, Poland.

Peltier spoke to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival from his home on Turtle Mountain Chippewa Nation in North Dakota. Peltier said he joined the American Indian Movement in 1970 in Denver, which was created and born here in Minneapolis.

"It was one of the most powerful organizations in history for Native Americans. We fought to abolish the Termination Act, and all of the discrimination, and all of the evils that were created against Native people here in America," Peltier said of the American Indian Movement.

"It has been a long fight, it is not over I'm sure, because we still have our enemies. I am an old man now and I can not get in the field to fight for you, but I can become a spokesperson, and I will become a spokesperson. I will continue to fight for our people for the rest of my life on earth."

Peltier said the film is accurate. "Everything in there is accurate and recorded."

Dino Butler reunited with Peltier for the first time in 50 years and joined him in the virtual broadcast.

“I can’t think of a better place to show this movie than Minneapolis, the birthplace of the American Indian Movement."

"We’re here today as brothers," Butler said.

Jesse Short Bull, Lakota co-director from the Badlands, said in Minneapolis that the city was a catalyst for events in the 60's and 70's for the birth of the movement.

"Here things really got moving especially in the case of police brutality and the Indigenous community helped birth the American Indian Movement."

Co-director David France said in Minneapolis, "Leonard Peltier is one of our great civil rights leaders in America and the way that he inspires people is phenomenal, and we're hoping that the audiences here, and the audiences around the world will feel that inspiration."

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https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/free-leonard-peltier-film-shows-in.html

The Making of the Film, by Censored News

"Free Leonard Peltier" begins in Leavenworth. And with the sound of the metal crash of the prison door behind him, there is the sound of the passage of time, years and years of time.

Free Leonard Peltier tells the long story, back from the beginning, of the injustice, the police beatings, lives stolen in boarding schools, and the 68 murders on Pine Ridge. It tells the story of the soft-spoken Leonard Peltier.

The images, from Alcatraz to the BIA takeover in Washington, to the Jumping Bull Camp, tell the story of those who were there and have always known what happened.

The film reveals one of the longest-running secrets in Indian country.

Continue reading:

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02/free-leonard-peltier-film-for-people.html

Free Screenings of the New 'Free Leonard Peltier' Film on the Rez Tour 2025

April 21 | Belcourt, North Dakota, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
April 22 | Fargo, N.D.
April 23 | Fort Yates, ND, Standing Rock
April 24 | Eagle Butte, South Dakota, Cheyenne River
Apirl 26 | Rapid City, S.D.
April 27 and 28 | Kyle, SD, Oglala5
April 29 | Valentine, NE, Rosebud
May 1 | Sioux Falls, S.D.
ALL SCREENINGS ARE FIRST COME FIRST SERVED - no tickets necessary. Each screening will feature an in-person Q&A with the film team.

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