Running Free (film)

Running Free
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sergei Bodrov
Produced by	Jean-Jacques Annaud
Screenplay by	Jeanne Rosenberg
Story by	Jeanne Rosenberg Jean-Jacques Annaud
Starring	Chase Moore Jan Decleir Arie Verveen Maria Geelbooi
Narrated by	Lukas Haas
Music by	Nicola Piovani
Cinematography	Dan Laustsen
Edited by	Ray Lovejoy
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	June 2, 2000
Running time	85 minutes
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$117,608

Running Free is a 2000 film about a horse born into slavery in 1914. The film began production in 1999 and was released in the US in 2000. It was directed by Sergei Bodrov, written and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud, narrated by Lukas Haas, and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Running Free takes place primarily in German South-West Africa (Namibia), 1914 during World War I. An Arabian mare gives birth to a beautiful chestnut foal during a voyage to Swakopmund for work in the copper mines. The foal is separated from his mother upon arrival at an unidentified mining town and nearly expires from dehydration. He is subsequently saved from certain death by the 14-year old sympathetic town stable boy, Richard (Chase Moore).

Richard allows Lucky to live in the thoroughbred stable - much to the resentment of Caesar, resident stallion and the prize horse of a wealthy colonial. Lucky is finally reunited with his mother, but she is killed by Caesar, furious that a workhorse has trespassed into his stable. Lucky wanders away from the town upon the death of his mother but returns after being struck by a desert snake. Richard treats the bite with Caesar's personal medication, But so Richard is acussed by your 10-year old cousin Hans (Nicholas Trueb) despite being threatened with grave consequences from the latter's vengeful master (Jan Decleir). After being savagely punished, the duo depart to seek a much-sought oasis in the nearby mountains.

Alone in the Namib Desert with Lucky, Richard encounters a 13-year old girl named Nyka (Maria Geelbooi) who teaches them how to survive in the harsh landscape. When they eventually return to the mining settlement, it is struck by an SAAF air raid. The Schutztruppe begins evacuating local civilians, but Richard refuses to leave Lucky. He is forced to do so against his will when Allied biplanes return to strafe the railroad. After the evacuation, Nyka was left to watch over Lucky and even brought him to her tribe. When he picked up a familiar smell from the hunt done by Nyka's tribe, Lucky left.