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Film Fest @ Isis Theater, October 17-18, 2025
More films for 2025 to be announced
Free Leonard Peltier
Directed by Jesse Short Bull (Lakota Nation vs. the United States) and David France (How To Survive a Plague, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, and Welcome to Chechnya), and produced by Bird Runningwater. Leonard Peltier, one of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 50 years following a contentious conviction. A new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom before he dies.
COURAGE
When a young Native American boy struggles with self-confidence and societal expectations, his uncle introduces him to the transformative art of Hoop Dance. Through this tradition, he discovers strength, resilience, and the courage to embrace his heritage. Inspired by true events, Courage is a heartfelt story about identity and empowerment.
-By Eric Michael Hernandez
Let My People Go Skiing
Tlingit skier and scientist Ellen Bradley returns to her traditional homelands in Southeast Alaska. Here, she uses skiing as a tool to reclaim her connection to the land she belongs to. By dismantling barriers to accessing snowsports for Alaska Native youth, she empowers a generation to reclaim their relationship to the land in hopes that the mountains can teach them what it will take to endure the fight to protect their culture, language, and home forever.
-By Ellen Bradley
AGAINST THE CURRENT
Native American teen activist 17-year-old Daunnette Moniz-Reyome shares her family’s journey to retain the sacred rituals and values of their culture in the wake of centuries of loss due to disease, war and government policies.
-By Daunnette Moniz-Reyome
The Shining Mountains Film Festival includes three contest categories:
Feature films
Short films
Audience Choice
Shining Mountains Film Festival, founded by the Aspen Indigenous Foundation in 2018, is an essential platform to give voice to American Indians.
Featured films and documentaries reveal the unspoken history of our nation, the generational traumas and the struggles that Indigenous Peoples of America face daily.
This annual festival showcases the rich culture, wisdom, traditional ways, beauty, and diversity of the first inhabitants of America.
The festival welcomes all who wish to learn about American Indian traditions, building bridges through education, with the intention of healing both Native American communities and mainstream America.
Thank you to all our filmmakers, audience, volunteers, and sponsors!
Aspen is a place where every day holds an opportunity for greatness.
Want to know what else to do when you’re in town for the film festival? Click here to learn about all that Aspen has to offer. There’s information on Aspen’s long history, arts and culture, tours and sightseeing, as well as a full list of lodging, restaurants, nightlife, and enough outdoor activities to keep your entire family happy.