Leonard Peltier should be freed, while Nika and Madison receive top honors at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.

      Nika and Madison, a fictional tale about two Indigenous women on the run, along with Free Leonard Peltier, a true story chronicling an Indigenous man's prolonged struggle for freedom, received the top honors at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.

      Eva Thomas, the co-writer and director of Nika and Madison, was awarded a $60,000 Panavision camera package, a $30,000 Light Iron post-production package, and a $1,000 cash prize for winning the Best Narrative Feature Jury Award. Her film narrates the story of two Native women who escape after one defends the other, leading to a violent attack on a police officer.

      Thomas expressed that she created the film to address the inadequate representation of Indigenous people in film.

      “I began my career in this industry as an actress and felt quite frustrated with the roles that were available to us. In L.A., we referred to them as the ‘feather and the leather’ roles. They wanted to depict me on a horse with feathers in my hair,” Thomas recalled.

      This experience inspired her to pursue screenwriting, producing, and directing, starting at Santa Fe’s Institute for American Indian Arts.

      “Receiving this kind of recognition is truly incredible, and having it happen here in Santa Fe is especially significant for me since it’s where I learned to write,” she remarked.

      She also acknowledged the many Indigenous faces in the audience and shared a memory of meeting actor Gary Farmer during her time as a student at AIA. Farmer played a role in establishing the festival and previously served as its chair.

      “He may not remember, but I do,” she reflected. “Over the years, to have someone like him quietly support me, saying, ‘You can do it, go girl, you’re good!’ really means a lot.”

      Farmer, sitting a few feet away, had tears in his eyes.

      Free Leonard Peltier, directed by Jesse Short Bull and David France, won the Best Documentary Feature Jury Award. It tells the story of a member of the American Indian Movement who was convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975. After years of protests regarding the flawed evidence against him, his sentence was commuted by President Biden in January.

      Joshua Seftel’s film “All the Empty Rooms” received the Academy Award-qualifying Best Documentary Short Jury Award.

      In accepting the award on behalf of Seftel, producer James Costa shared that the film looks at parents whose children have been lost to school shootings and have preserved their rooms just as they were.

      “I would trade every award if it meant no more children would be killed by gun violence in schools,” Costa stated. “Value life, cherish your children, and appreciate every moment you have, because you never know when it will be the last.”

      The Academy Award-qualifying Best Narrative Short Jury Award, presented by Panavision, was awarded to “Nightfaces,” directed by Martin Winter and Stefan Langthaler.

      The festival awarded over $100,000 in prizes overall.

      Here is the complete list of additional winners, as provided by the festival.

      Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature

      Steal This Story, Please! directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

      Recognized for its strong commitment to independent journalism, this biography of journalist Amy Goodman and her show “Democracy Now” highlights the challenges facing the First Amendment and freedom of the press in America today.

      Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature

      The Stringer directed by Bao Minh Nguyen

      Acknowledged for its thorough investigation uncovering the true author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of the “napalm girl,” which became a symbol of the Vietnam War’s horrors, 55 years ago.

      Academy Award® Qualifying Best Animated Short Jury Award

      Snow Bear directed by Aaron Blaise

      Best Experimental Short Jury Award

      Dieter directed by Rolf Broennimann

      Best New Mexico Documentary Feature Jury Award

      Dream Touch Believe directed by Jenna Naranjo Winters

      Best New Mexico Narrative Feature Jury Award

      In Our Blood directed by Pedro Kos

      Best New Mexico Short Jury Award

      Legend of Fry-Roti: Rise of the Dough directed by Sabrina Saleha

      Best Indigenous Short Film Jury Award

      Tiger directed by Loren Waters

      Audience Choice Best Narrative Feature

      The President’s Cake by Hasan Hadi

      Audience Choice Best Documentary Feature

      Steal This Story, Please! directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

      Audience Choice Best Narrative Short

      My Kind of People by Joe Picozzi

      Audience Award for Best Documentary Short

      What the River Knows by Diego Riley and Will Buckley

      Audience Award for Best Animated Short

      Forevergreen by Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears

      The Santa Fe International Film Festival is recognized as one of the 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. More coverage of the festival can be found here.

      Main image: Nika and Madison. Courtesy of SFIFF.