Archive photograph of co-director David France at a Millennium Docs Against Gravity discussion in Warsaw on May 14, 2023. Photo: Tomasz Molina / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized/display crop; original image license applies.
Free Leonard Peltier began streaming on Netflix on October 12, 2026. Tom’s Guide’s October 12 release calendar lists the documentary for that day, and the film’s official website now confirms that it is streaming.
The documentary follows the campaign for American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier’s freedom, focusing on the involvement of a younger generation of Native activists. That campaign is the film’s subject; viewers are encountering an account of sustained organising rather than a newly announced film production.
From festival screenings to streaming
The Santa Barbara Independent’s October 11 report identifies the film’s Sundance premiere in 2025 and confirms its October 12 Netflix release. The streaming arrival therefore gives audiences another route to a documentary that has already had a festival life.
The official filmmaker credits name Jesse Short Bull and David France as co-directors. Short Bull’s previous work includes Lakota Nation vs. United States; France directed How to Survive a Plague and Welcome to Chechnya. Those credits offer useful context for audiences interested in documentary approaches to activism and contested histories.
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