Mountain Film Telluride: Queens & Cowboys

18 May Mountain Film Telluride: Queens & Cowboys

An official selection of Mountainfilm 2014, with guest appearances by producer Erin Krozek and star bull-rider Char Duran. “Queens & Cowboys” screens at the Masons Friday night at  9 p.m. and at the Nugget on Sunday at 6 p.m. 

This is not my first rodeo.

That is to say, not my first Mountainfilm in Telluride. Have not missed a single festival weekend since 1993. Nor is this the first rodeo film featured at Mountainfilm. In 2005, (maybe 2006), director/writer/producer Josh Aronson’s “Bullrider” previewed at the event. That documentary takes you right into the heart of the 2004 finals in Las Vegas. The testosterone-laced drama Aronson captured on the screen wound up looking and feeling like an action flick, right up to its thrilling, poignant ending. It was also an incisive, insightful portrait of modern-day gladiators at work and at play. And none of its stars were gay. Not the riders, the bull fighters (clowns), or the stock contractors. At lease none of them admitted to being gay. After all, bull riders in particular and rodeo dudes (and gals) in general are meant to be the ruggedest of the rugged individualists of legend, you know, the type who tamed the Old West, uber cowboys, strong and silent. Ang Lee’s award-wining adaptation of E. Annie Proulx’s story starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as young cowboys, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Each of the men were hired to corral sheep and they soon bonded closely. Very closely. The, platonic relationship exploded into a physical one.

And that exploded the myth of the cowboy as an icon of straight world, up there with cops and firefighters.

“Brokeback Mountain” was a game-changer. And “Queens and Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo” walks that movie in documentary form straight into rodeo arenas around the country, pounding cliches about what it takes to be a rodeo star into hamburgers as flat as any McDonald’s.

“Queens & Cowboys: A Straight Year on the Gay Rodeo” chronicles a complete season of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA). Roping and riding across North America, the IGRA’s courageous cowboys and cowgirls brave challenges both in and out of the arena on their quest to qualify for the World Finals at the end of the season. Along the way, like we said, they’ll bust every stereotype in the book.

The film tells the story of five members of the International Gay Rodeo Association. From Wade Earp, a descendant of cowboy legend Wyatt Earp and one of the best competitors on the circuit; to Char Duran, a female bull rider who’s never won a buckle but seems determined to die trying; “Queens & Cowboys” weaves the stories of its protagonists over the course of an entire rabble-rousing year.

An unprecedented look at the strength it takes to be gay in the rural west, this film explores the many struggles threatening the IGRA and the LGBTQ community at large, how far society has come on the subject of LGBTQ equality, and how far there is left to go.

The road, ahem, is not straight.

“Queens & Cowboys” won Best Documentary, Audience Awards and Grand Jury prizes in Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Dallas, and Arizona.

Mountainfilm welcomes Erin Krozek, producer, to town, along with cast member Char Duran.

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2006, Erin cut her entertainment teeth at the William Morris Agency and as the assistant to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman (“Thank You For Smoking”, “Juno”, “Up In The Air”). Since March 2010, Erin has worked as a Producer in unscripted television and has produced series, pilots, and a TV-movie for networks including A&E, Travel Channel, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Spike TV, and Animal Planet, including the monster hit “Duck Dynasty.” The proud daughter of a gay father, Erin sees “Queens & Cowboys” not only as a portrait of our country’s complex LGBTQ community, but as an exploration of the universal desire to find the place where we fit.

In traditional rodeo, women are allowed to compete only in barrel racing. On the IGRA circuit, all 13 events are open to men and women, but Char Duran, a lesbian bull rider of 14 years, has yet to win a single bull-riding buckle. Despite countless injuries, and scaring the daylights out of her girlfriend and mother, Char won’t give up until she’s reached her goal at this season’s rodeo finals. If she doesn’t, it seems she’s willing to die trying.

Matt Livadary is the director/writer/producer/co-editor of “Queens & Cowboys.”

Passionate filmmaker and a Los Angeles native, Matt earned his BA from USC’s Cinema School. He then worked for several years at the prestigious Creative Artists Agency, for clients such as Ang Lee, Spike Jonze and Cameron Crowe. In 2008, Matt became a story editor alongside acclaimed director Marc Forster at the production company Apparatus. While working on “Queens & Cowboys,” he has also made a name for himself creating content for clients including Sony, EA and Comedy Central. A “deep and wide” filmmaker, Matt possesses a talent for showcasing sentimental and broadly appealing content; particularly utilizing playful themes, passionate optimism, and nostalgia to connect with his audience—a filmmaker unafraid to show the size of his heart onscreen.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to my chat with Erin and Matt.

My husband Clint, who once rode a bull in the Townsend Rodeo – it’s a long story or rather, a short one – has done a separate post and interview with Char.