Although it’s not the Hollywood blockbuster many predicted would result, a new film has been made that tries to shed light on the life of Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called Barefoot Bandit whose high-flying crime spree came to an end in a hail of bullets off the coast of the Bahamas in 2010. The Barefoot Bandit Documentary premiered at the Friday Harbor Film Festival in Washington last month, not far from Camano Island where Harris-Moore grew up. According to the documentary, Harris-Moore’s life of crime began at the age of seven and culminated in the self-taught pilot’s flying a stolen Cessna Corvalis from the Midwest and ditching it in the Caribbean. Over two years he stole at least five aircraft but never took a formal flying lesson.
The documentary is one of two produced so far. A Canadian company released Fly Colt Fly: Legend of the Barefoot Bandit tracing the crime career of Harris-Moore and his ascension to folk hero status. 20th Century Fox has purchased the film rights to a book about Harris-Moore. The young serial felon is now almost halfway through six-and-a-half year sentence in federal prison for the crime spree.
