Prior to winning multiple Oscars for Nomadland and a brief departure to the Marvel Universe, Chloé Zhao burst onto the scene with this remarkable character study, featuring first-time actors playing versions of themselves. A sensitive and compassionate docudrama, this film tells the story of Brady, a gifted horse trainer and former rising star on the rodeo circuit. After his skull is crushed at a rodeo, Brady is warned that his riding days are over. In an attempt to regain control of his own fate, Brady undertakes a search for a new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of the United States.

Before Zhao returns to the world of intimate, character-driven filmmaking with this fall’s Hamnet, join us in looking back at her breakout film.

“Like her debut, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me,” it is alive with empathy and devoid of pity or condescension. There is struggle and disappointment in Brady’s life, but rather than pin him and the other characters down in a tableau of misery, Ms. Zhao honors their essential freedom and understands what is important to them.” ~ A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Screening September 17 + 21

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