On January 20th 2025, Joe Biden’s last day in office, POTUS released him from prison into house arrest—after almost 50 years of detention. Leonard Peltier, now 80 years old, is a member of the Lakota and Anishinaabe, as well as one of the most famous activists of the American Indian Movement. In 1977, on the grounds of murder, he was sentenced to “two consecutive life terms”. Since 1968, the American Indian Movement has been fighting for the rights of the Native Americans and their spirituality, for self-determination, and against the exploitation of natural resources (coal and uranium). The new documentary “Free Leonard Peltier” depicts the struggle for liberation of the well-known Native-American activist and its political ramifications. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025. Author and filmmaker Claus Biegert, who has had ties to Native Americans for many years, visited Peltier in March 2025 in North Dakota—at home at last. He will also talk about this encounter.
Directed by: Jesse Short Bull and David France
USA 2025, 110 min., OV with English subtitles
Followed by a film discussion with
Claus Biegert
Author, Filmmaker, Environmental Activist, Uffing (Bavaria)
Hosted by
Wolfgang Mayr
Journalist, South Tyrol
