ABOUT

 

“There were so many people who fell in love with Keiko and I think it’s really unfortunate that they don’t know what really happened to him.” – Dr. Naomi Rose


Giving an astonishing performance, Keiko swam straight into the hearts of millions of school children and adults around the world upon the debut of Free Willy in July 1993.

So it was quite a jolt when his fans discovered that, unlike his fictional counterpart, Keiko was not free.

Everyone hoped that Keiko would find his family and live happily ever after. When that didn’t happen, the media walked away and called the effort a failure.

This is the amazing story of what actually happened with Keiko. The film takes the viewer on Keiko’s journey, explores his strong will to survive, and enjoys his enormous embrace of his own freedom.

Through first hand accounts by those who were there every day, the film follows Keiko, his life, his legacy, and the untold story of his extraordinary years of ‘freedom’ in Iceland and Norway where he thrived before his death in 2003.