"The Bears on Pine Ridge," was originally released as a compelling and poignant short documentary project, capturing a story of hope and resilience within an isolated Native American community on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This award-winning cinematic piece offers viewers unprecedented access to a State-of-Emergency unfolding in South Dakota, where the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe is grappling with a deeply troubling youth mental health crisis. With little to no assistance from the Federal Government, the burden of healing their community falls upon the resilient residents of Pine Ridge.

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As a short film, TBOPR won several awards for best short documentary, including the Phoenix Film Festival, South Dakota Film Festival, and earned an award nomination from the prestigious Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. The film drew the attention of Vision Maker Media, who partnered with Bass and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help bring a longer feature film version, to be released in Fall 2023.