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SFFILM Festival

Bitterbrush

Directed by Emelie Mahdavian

USA | 91

24 Apr
Sun, Apr 24, 2022 at 5:30 pm PT

Guests Expected

Director Emelie Mahdavian is expected to attend.

Description

Seasonal cattlewomen Hollyn and Colie contemplate their itinerant lives as they herd livestock through the majestic mountain ranges of the American West in this illuminating observational documentary. Director Emile Mahdavian chronicles the quotidian rhythms of these women’s lives nearly six years into their professional partnership as they hit crossroads that could upend their nomadic existence. Through stream-of-consciousness banter during daily rides and quiet moments on the ranch, each woman’s personality and motivation reveals itself. Hollyn enjoys the work but questions whether she can continue once she starts a family, while Colie harbors ambitions to be her own boss. Slowly, they tame a new colt and challenge the idea of manifest destiny as quintessentially masculine terrain.

Director Emelie Mahdavian

Emelie Mahdavian is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director, writer, producer, and editor. Her films include a feature, After the Curtain (2016), and a short, Intangible Body (2016). Midnight Traveler (Festival 2019), which she wrote, produced, and edited, won numerous awards, including a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention from the Berlin International Film Festival and SFFILM Festival’s Best Documentary Feature Golden Gate Award. DOCNYC named Mahdavian to its 2020 “40 Under 40” list.

Film Details

Language English

Year 2021

Premiere California

Runtime 91

Country USA

Director Emelie Mahdavian

Executive Producer Laurene Powell Jobs, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan Silberberg, Nicole Stott, Jenifer Westphal, Joe Plummer

Producer Su Kim, Emelie Mahdavian

Editor Curtiss Clayton, Emelie Mahdavian

Cinematographer Derek Howard, Alejandro Mejía

Music Anderson & Roe

Closed Captions Closed captions are not available for this screening.

Audio Description Audio description is not available for this screening.

American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation is not currently scheduled for this event. For more information about ASL interpretation at our events, e-mail ADA@SFFilm.org.