An immersive journey into the world of wild horses, Wild Beauty illuminates both the profound beauty, and desperate plight currently faced by the wild horses in the Western United States.  Filmmaker Ashley Avis (Disney’s Black Beauty) and crew go on a multi-year expedition to uncover the truth in hopes to protect them, before wild horses disappear forever. 

A Q&A with the filmmaker Ashley Avis follows the film, moderated by Elizabeth Novogratz.

About the filmmaker:

Ashley Avis is an award-winning director, screenwriter, journalist, and equine advocate. Her work has been featured in Time, Rolling Stone, and major outlets across the globe, with her films earning both critical acclaim and meaningful cultural impact.

She is currently writing and set to direct City of Angels for Warner Bros., a reimagining of the 1998 classic, produced by Charles Roven. Ashley is also writing and directing American Wolf for Appian Way, based on the New York Times bestseller by Nate Blakeslee, with Leonardo DiCaprio producing.

Previously, Ashley wrote, directed, and edited Black Beauty for Disney+, a modern reimagining of Anna Sewell’s beloved novel, starring Kate Winslet and Mackenzie Foy.  Her documentary feature, Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West, is a Critics Choice-nominated Oscar-contending exposé on the corruption befalling America’s wild horses. Lauded as “groundbreaking,” “visually spectacular,” and “a masterpiece of investigative reporting,” the film earned Ashley a Congressional Commendation for her contributions to equine protection.

Ashley is the Founder & President of The Wild Beauty Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that blends storytelling and advocacy to spotlight the issues facing horses and wildlife. She had launched programs including A Day With a Horse for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the national #IStandWithWildHorses letter-writing campaign for children, and most recently The Lost Horses campaign, a major initiative to end the slaughter of equines in the United States. 

She lives near the ocean in California with her husband, and is currently writing her first children’s books.