Mustangs & Renegades Redux - A Modern Day Western!

Mustangs & Renegades is the story America’s wild horses tell us about ourselves, globalization, and the ability of a storyteller to persevere, despite being targeted by the most powerful government in the world.

In Mustangs & Renegades, filmmaker James Anaquad Kleinert (Onondaga) discovers a unique, undisturbed band of wild horses, living free in Disappointment Valley Colorado. James documents his relationship with the majestic herd, led by their iconic stallion, Traveler. This relationship is brutally interrupted by government helicopter roundups; Traveler is injured and separated from his family, the tribe of wild horses is devastated. The event is a turning point for James, who sets out to understand the reasons behind the brutal roundups by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that are pushing the herd to the edge of extinction.

As he fights to get Traveler free, James discovers that the extraction industries have been ignoring and perverting the laws to protect the mustangs, jeopardizing the fate of both wild horses and public lands. The BLM is the agency that is supposedly protecting the wild horses, but the US government’s second-largest source of income is the leasing of Public Lands to extractive industries. Oil and gas fracturing, uranium and other “rare earth” mining, is immanent in Disappointment Valley. Through interviews with the Department of the Interior, politicians, scientists, attorneys, miners, cowboys, Indians, and innocent people telling of their lives destroyed, Mustangs & Renegades shares a revealing look into the modern day American West.

James is tagged as a potential eco-terrorist and put under surveillance by the government; he partners with one of the nation’s leading FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) attorneys to investigate the surveillance. The fear created by the surveillance and the stress of being labeled a terrorist - no habeas corpus, just long-term prison sentences - forces James to relocate to safety in Norway, where he experiences a receptiveness to his work he never experienced in the US. He appeared as a guest on Ole Torp’s investigative talk show “Aktuelt” Norway’s Number One News Show. Aktuelt received some of its highest viewership ratings when kleinert showed scenes from his film Wild Horses & Renegades & explained the US governments management for extinction policy. The Norwegians were shocked and the State Department was pissed Kleinert was exposing the truth!

ames is called back from Norway to Washington D.C., where he brings his case – Kleinert vs. Bureau of Land Management - to federal court and wins a major victory. Federal Judge Bates (also sits on the FISA court) strongly admonishes the BLM for its improper FOIA withholdings; it is clearly revealed that the BLM was working to thwart Kleinert’s investigative documentary. This case has set important precedent for future public records and legal proceedings with the BLM, helping citizens, western public land issues, and upholding the right of the public to full disclosure and Truth! Westlaw published the case - 2015 WL 5675792 – and it is now in legal standing.

James returns to the American West to discover deregulation policies by both political parties and massive land grabs by the extractive industries. James doubles his efforts to educate the public on the plight of Western ecosystems and wild horses, which so clearly mirror our own human quest for freedom. Despite persecution and very little financial support James continues to document and expose the hard truth on the plight of our wild horses, public lands and corporate/government collusion. James has 8 additional rough cut episodes of Mustangs & Renegades & is shopping the series for final post production financing.

Kleinert’s follow up film Native Horse a completed 56 minute feature: “Native Horse” an inspirational documentary film explores the profound relationship between American Indians and the horse from ancient history to modern science. Harnessing the power & beauty of the horse, the film spectacularly illustrates the deep cultural connection that American Indians have and continue to share with Horse Nation.

In addition Kleinert is completing several more episodes of Mustangs & Renegades as he continues to investigate the corruption surrounding America’s Wild Horses and out Public Lands!

“By protecting the rights of these majestic creatures, we are taking a giant leap
forward in the protection of the wild spaces that support us, connect us, and that define the “Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave”.

Thank you for your time & interest.

James Anaquad Kleinert - Director/Cinematographer/Writer/Horsemen