Coming straight from TIFF and continuing the theme of women in Male-dominated fields, Saturday brought the US premiere of CHEYENNE to Milwaukee.
CHEYENNE is a documentary centered on four women competing on the women’s rodeo circuit. There’s Bee, a single mom, who has to support her son and has worries about what will happen to her family if/when she suffers an injury. Ally is a survivor of sexual assault and finds the rodeo arena a place of consent and freedom. There’s Brooke, a rookie who’ mom is her biggest cheerleader. And Lake, a Hawaiian cowgirl is dealing with a recent injury which jeopardizes her season and the recent death of her mother. And they’re all aware that the event they compete in, female bronc riding, has been essentially banned for a hundred years due to injury and death concerns, and they could contribute to the event going away again. That’s the fear. The desire, as described, is they don’t ride because they want to die, but they ride because they want to live. And they all desire to get to the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, of which only four can qualify, and be crowned World Champion.
This is the cast of characters and structure assembled by director Taimi Arvidson. We’ve certainly seen these documentaries structured around a competition structure before. The question going in is what is CHEYENNE going to do to distinguish itself from others of its type? Quite a lot as it turns out.
For one, the four competitors that the documentary focusses on are remarkably open about their lives. Especially Bee who clearly was open to letting the filmmakers into her home. You can watch her tuck her kid into bed as one of myriad moments of her life being opened to the filmmakers and audiences. They’re all self aware of the dangers of their profession. They’re all aware of the image they have to project, even when they’re hurting from being thrown or stepped on. There’s a segment focusing on a serious injury too. And maybe because opening up isn’t the bravest thing we’ll see them do, they give real insight into their lives. That’s invaluable which not all documentaries can claim.
Second, the film is remarkably well shot. The film takes advantage of its western landscapes and high skies. Many of the events are shot during magic hour. It looks great. The cinematography by Nic Midwig is remarkable. And the event itself looks great when shown on the big screen. You can feel the impact of everytime a rider collides with the earth. The characters aren’t given any concession to their sex by the horses, gravity, or the earth. And the photography makes that clear. You can feel the danger.
CHEYENNE really feels like a companion piece to Chloe Zhao’s THE RIDER. I think that’s the biggest compliment I can pay.
The 2026 Dialogues Documentary Film Festival runs from September 24 to 27, 2026. Further information on the festival, and films that screened can be found at Milwaukee Film’s website.
