Big Sky Film Festival Preview: ‘399: Queen of the Tetons’

This preview first appeared in the Feb. 15, 2024 print edition of the Montana Kaimin

On May 18, 2020, in Grand Teton National Park, hoards of visitors lined the road hoping to catch a glimpse of the most famous bear in the world. Among them was Thomas D. Mangelsen, closely watching the landscape for his muse. When she emerges, 399 has four cubs in tow. The grizzly bear, referred to only by her research number, is known for having multiple cub litters, but four is rare and the largest she’s ever had.

“She’s just one damn special bear,” Mangelsen said in an interview, and we’re not talking about Monte’s girlfriend here.

“399: Queen of the Tetons,” the Big Sky Film Festival’s opening night film, is as much about 399 and her cubs as it is about the people who care about her and the efforts to protect her species amid the threat of being delisted from the Endangered Species Act. Notable among them is Mangelsen, a wildlife photographer and conservationist, who’s become 399’s documentarian, in addition to local photographers, workers and bear biologists. It’s also about motherhood, survival and adaptation.

Born in 1996, 399 has decades of experience successfully raising cubs to adulthood. The film explores the distinctive choices the mother bear makes to protect her family. But as the number of bears increase alongside the number of people living in bear territory, 399’s practice of raising habituated bear cubs is causing problems for the surrounding humans. While 399’s celebrity may be exacerbating some of her man-made difficulties, it may also be what saves her in the end.

Featuring a spectacular combination of photographs, footage and testimonials, director Elizabeth Leiter’s 90-minute film follows 399 on her journey against the odds to raise her roadside cubs in a human-dominated world alongside natural threats. Whether or not you’ve heard of 399 before watching this film, it’s hard not to fall in love with her by the end of it.

“399: Queen of the Tetons” screens at the Wilma Theatre on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.. It will be available to stream Feb. 19 to Feb. 24.

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