Cowboys
Director: Anna Kerrigan Run Time: 83 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2021
Starring: Ann Dowd, Jillian Bell, Sasha Knight, Steve Zahn
Country: United States
Language: English
Presented in the Virtual Screening Room in partnership with Samuel Goldwyn.
“A modern day buddy Western that puts the complicated father figure and his adoring trans kid at the center…effectively crafting a satisfying adventure into a subtle excavation of masculinity — the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
– Jude Dry, IndieWire
About the film:
Premiered in the U.S. Narrative Competition in the online edition of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, where writer-director Anna Kerrigan was awarded Best Screenplay and Steve Zahn won Best Actor. For his portrayal of Joe, newcomer Sasha Knight received the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Performance in a U.S. Feature at L.A. Outfest 2020.
Troy is a troubled but well-intentioned father who has recently separated from his wife Sally. Aghast at Sally’s refusal to let their trans son Joe live as his authentic self, Troy runs off with Joe into the Montana wilderness. Meanwhile, a police detective pursues them, but her resolve about the case is tested the more she learns about Joe’s family.
About the filmmaker:
Anna Kerrigan is a playwright, screenwriter, and director based in Los Angeles. She graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Drama and has written and directed short films for Funny Or Die, Amazon and Refinery 29. She is a Film Independent and Sundance Fellow, and IndieWire named her one of 2020’s Rising Women Directors You Need to Know.
She produced, wrote, directed, edited, and starred in her first feature-length film, Five Days Gone (2010), and was awarded Best Screenplay at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick, her short film Hot Seat premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, as did her digital series The Chances, written by and starring two deaf actors. The series also earned the Audience Award for Best Narrative at Outfest, where Kerrigan has mentored young LGBTQ filmmakers in writing.
For Cowboys, she chose to cast a child who identifies as trans or non-binary in the key role of Joe. Read more from Kerrigan on crafting her first feature film in 10 years in an interview by David Reddish for Queerty or listen to her A Brighter Lens podcast interview.
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