P-22 The Movie Star: New Film Highlights Mountain Lion's Connection To Indigenous Peoples

TOPANGA, CA — Six years after profiling P-22 in "The Cat That Changed America," filmmaker Tony Lee is back with a follow up a year after the famous cougar's death.

His next film, "Strong Hunter," reflects on the life and legacy of the mountain lion through the voice of Alan Salazar, an elder in the Fernandeño Tataviam and Ventureño Chumash tribes. The 22-minute short examines how P-22's story relates to that of the indigenous communities that inhabited what is now Southern California.

The film screens Saturday, Oct. 21 at 12:15 at Froggy's in Topanga as part of the Topanga Film Festival.

"I didn't cover the indigenous First Nations in the first film," Lee told Patch. "It made perfect sense to me that they should tell his story about his final days and his resting. They believe in his spirit coming back and visiting the places where he hunted and where he was born."

After making headlines for prowling Griffith Park and surrounding neighborhoods for years, the injured and ill P-22 was euthanized in December after being hit by a car. He was later buried at an undisclosed location in the Santa Monica Mountains during a private ceremony with local tribal leaders.

In "Strong Hunter," Salazar draws parallels between how local native peoples were confronted with colonization and P-22's life in an urban jungle.

"He is the perfect example of the animal teacher. How to survive in a hostile environment. I want to call him strong hunter — that's what he was," Salazar says in the film's trailer.

Read more about P-22:

• P-22 Statue In Griffith Park Proposed By LA Officials
• P-22's Death Sparks Renewed Hope For Wildlife Freeway Crossing

After he was born around 2010 in the western Santa Monica Mountains, P-22 trekked east across the 101 and 405 Freeways – the only cougar known to successfully complete both risky crossings – before eventually making a home around Griffith Park.

First identified by wildlife officials in 2012, P-22 soon became one of Los Angeles' most famous residents and became a frequent fixture in backyard surveillance camera footage and news reports.

Lee says while P-22's story is much like that of an urban myth, there's much to learn about the cougar's life and fate.

"We really need to take heed if we want to continue living alongside nature, or else there will be no nature left," he said.

You can buy tickets to Saturday's screening of "Strong Hunter" here.