Everyday Activist - Unbranded

Posted on Friday, October 16, 2015 at 06:00 PM

Unbranded

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

Back in around April 2015, the University of Calgary NUTV group screened two documentaries that I didn’t review, because I kind of hoped I’d never see them again. Unfortunately both will be screened in the near future at two different festivals in November 2015 that I usually attend. I’ll start with Unbranded. I was compensated nicely at this free screening, not only did they fill everyone with free, popcorn, juice AND candy I managed to win a door prize. The odds were in my favor. I think maybe 10 people showed up.

I thought Unbranded might make it to the Banff Mountain Film Festival, because it won the People’s choice award at the Telluride festival, where the Banff screeners tend to pick their films. It’s won some other awards too. People’s choice makes sense. They would have ridden their horses close to Telluride and most people like horses, except me. I had to explain, to many people in Spanish, while in Peru, that I didn’t like horses, thus they could stop offering me trail rides.

So yes, I was biased to start AND I had reviewed Cowspiracy with Kip Anderson as well as Sharkwater and Revolution with Rob Stewart. These young men are not only hot, but have changed the world with their documentaries. In fact through Cowspiracy, I learned about the whole wild horse versus rancher issue that Unbranded presents. The desert ecosystem is too fragile for big animals like horses or cows. Both need better management and regulations. Spending tens of millions of dollars using helicopters to keep the horses corralled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is probably not the best strategy. Again from the Cowspiracy community, I learned that in the 1970s there’s a law preventing them from butchering the horses for meat.

Unbranded tries hard to be relevant when it comes to the issue of wild horses. The director cuts between the plight of the horses and his trip he’s taking with his buddies to raise awareness and have a good time together before “real life” begins. On the plus side he presents both sides of the argument about the wild horses’ existence, talking to ranchers, veterinarians and activists. However, he makes too many assumptions about the audience. I have no idea why the parents would be scared with the wild horses and fine with domestic horses. Don’t all horses have to be broken in? As far as I know, it’s cool to butcher horses in Mexico and Canada so to ride them from the Mexico border to the Canadian border seems weird.

You can check out Unbranded at the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Schedule B, Saturday, November 7th, 2015 and Sunday, November 8th, 2015. If you’re in Banff anyway check out The Great Alone, a much better documentary, which screens on Sunday November 8th at 2 pm at the Rolston Recital Hall.

UPDATED (11/4/2015):  CIFF announced a screening of Unbranded for their monthly film series Doc Soup on December 2, 2015 @ 7:00 PM at Eau Claire Cinemas.

Calgary Showtimes: Unbranded >