Native American teen Kutoven (Ku) Stevens dreams of becoming a collegiate athlete at the University of Oregon while training alone—no team, no coach—as a high school runner in Nevada’s rural Yerington Paiute Reservation. As Ku trains, unreconciled emotions unearth the memory of his great-grandfather, Frank Quinn. Channeling the spirit and memory of Frank—who, as an eight-year-old boy, ran 50 miles across the desert to escape an Indian boarding school—Ku manifests a “remembrance run” to commemorate his ancestral roots and honor his family’s resilience. A coming-of-age story of self-discovery that took home the Audience Award and a Special Jury Award at SXSW 2025, REMAINING NATIVE channels absorbing and impactful experiences from the past to impart motivational and inspiring lessons for the future.