Kleinert will be featured in the American Cowboy Magazine, also Americancowboy.com as a top “15 Westerners To Watch in 2009.”
They claim “it’s a time for looking for answers and leadership… and the West is a fine place for finding both.” Kleinert is included in the list with an encouraging message from the organization:
“Dear James,
Congratulations on being included in our top 15 Westerners to watch in 2009. We applaud your film projects on the American Wild Horse. Thanks for keeping the horse an iconic symbol of the West. Our readers really appreciate your efforts.
Keep it rolling.
BG“
The Article:
James Kleinert , Filmmaker
The importance of the horse in the American West goes without saying. But that doesn’t keep filmmaker James Kleinert from saying it in his films. Raised among horses, he has always had an affinity for the animal, but they disappeared from his life for a time as he followed a career that saw him competing on the U.S. Ski Team and later as a professional skier. But he’s invited the equine species back into his life with a vengeance.
Recent film projects include Spirit Riders, which chronicles Lakota unity rides to Wounded Knee, Little Bighorn, and other destinations. Saving the American Wild Horse looks at the history and future of wild horses in America from the viewpoints of numerous experts, which Kleinert hopes will give people “a stronger sense of pride in our history and our horses.”
Soon to come from Kleinert is Disappointment Valley, another film about wild horses, which grew from documenting a Mustang roundup in a controversial BLM management area in Colorado. The filmmaker calls it “an intimate experience with herd management and wild horses.”—R.M.
