By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
At the inaugural Lone Peak Film Festival in Big Sky in September, a showing of the documentary, “Bring Them Home,” about an initiative to return bison to Blackfeet land, sold out a week in advance. Film fans have another opportunity to see the Montana-made documentary this week on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Waypoint at 5 p.m.
The story follows a small group of Blackfeet who work to restore wild bison to their land. In the 1800s, white settlers killed millions of bison, nearly wiping out the entire population in the United States, and destroying a deep relationship between the Blackfeet and the bison. Narrated by Academy Award winner and Blackfoot actress Lily Gladstone, the film follows Blackfeet leaders and community members as they fight for the return of bison, knowing that this action would help heal their people, culture and land.
Festival Director and co-founder Daniel Glick co-directed the film with Ivy and Ivan MacDonald. He described Bring Them Home as “a story of committed, determined people overcoming great odds to achieve an incredible goal.”
“This is a story of people who have dedicated their lives to making things better for their people, making things better for bison, making things better for the land, for their culture, for Montana,” Glick said.
He noted that while Native audiences will be familiar with themes about the relationships between humans and the natural world, he hopes this is a meaningful perspective shift for non-Native viewers.
“I think this is a powerful, inspiring story of reframing one’s perspective to see our relationship with the natural world in a different way. That we are a part of it, that we owe our existence to the rest of existence,” Glick said.
Glick and members of the LPFF team will be at the screening. He encouraged any movie fans to stop by and say hello.
“We wanna meet as many film lovers as we can and share these positive, inspiring stories,” Glick said.
