Capturing Bigfoot Revisits 1967 Patterson Footage
Fifty-nine seconds of grainy colour film shot in Northern California on 20 Oct. 1967 still anchors the Bigfoot debate. The footage was shot by Roger Patterson. It is the spine of Capturing Bigfoot, a documentary directed by Marq Evans that traces how the legend was born, how it took hold and how that clip came to be, according to Variety.
Variety published its review on 18 Oct. 2026 under the title "'Capturing Bigfoot' Review: An Astounding Documentary Uncovers the Truth." The review is credited to Owen Gleiberman and says Evans sets out how the famous footage was made and reveals the family saga behind it. Patterson was a resident of Yakima, Washington, who died in 1972.
The claim is blunt. The documentary opens with a title stating that no one had settled whether the Patterson film was real or a hoax "Until now." It presents itself as the film that reveals the truth and solves the mysteries.
The people around the footage are central. Clint Patterson appears alongside Bob Gimlin, Bob Heironimus and Larry Lund in the cast. The film follows the personal ties and disputes that grew up around the 59-second clip in the years after Patterson's death.
Sasquatch is another name for Bigfoot, the tall, hairy, ape-like creature of North American folklore and a favourite of campfire stories. Tamir Ardon is credited alongside Evans on the project, according to IndieWire, which described the documentary in trailer coverage as one that "Blows the Legend of the Sasquatch Wide Open."
Capturing Bigfoot premiered at SXSW, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which published its own review titled "'Capturing Bigfoot' Review: A Captivating and Revelatory Doc." Festival premieres of this kind are often used to launch sales and set release plans, with buyers watching closely.
For viewers coming in cold, the draw here is people rather than the creature. The documentary frames a familiar mystery as a chain of decisions by ambitious men, their families and their rivals, and asks what 59 seconds can carry for almost 60 years.
