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Quantum Cowboys film image, director Quantum Cowboys, starring David Arquette

Quantum Cowboys

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Canadian Premiere

In 1870s Arizona, a pair of drifters (Kiowa Gordon and John Way) are on a quest to find a legendary musician (Howe Gelb) when they team up with an Indigenous woman (Lily Gladstone) intent on reclaiming her land. Sounds like the setup to a classic Western, right? Instead, it’s but the springboard for a deep dive into a multiverse in which a dozen different mediums—including 16mm, paper cutouts, rotoscoping, hand-drawn animation, oil paints, 8k video, collage, and digital animation—are employed to distinguish between the disparate realities navigated by an ensemble of rogues.

Cerebral, psychedelic, and just plain silly in turns, physics scholar-turned-filmmaker Geoff Marslett’s staggeringly ambitious Quantum Cowboys is overwhelming in the most exhilarating way possible: a deliriously entertaining maelstrom of metaphysical ruminations, gunplay, musical interludes (Neko Case and John Doe stop by to croon tunes), and folksy wisdom (“Planning just insults the future.”). Playing out like a peyote-fueled fever dream, it serves notice that there are still new filmmaking frontiers to be explored.

 

Best Original Music Award, Annecy 2022

 

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Kiowa Gordon, Lily Gladstone, John Way, David Arquette, Frank Mosley, Gary Farmer

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2022

Language

In English and Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+

At The Cinematheque

19+

At The Rio

99 min
Animation Award Winners

Book Tickets

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Credits

Executive Producer

David Arquette, Lily Gladstone, Kiowa Gordon

Producer

William Way, Melodie Sisk, Geoff Marslett

Screenwriter

Geoff Marslett

Cinematography

Jon Firestone, Adam J. Minnick

ANIM

Geoff Marslett

Editor

Matt Latham, Ian Holden, Tom Wilson

Original Music

Howe Gelb, The Colorist Orchestra, Maciej Zielinski, XIXA, Neko Case, John Doe

Director

Geoff Marslett headshot, Quantum Cowboys director

Geoff Marslett

Geoff Marslett is a Texas-born animator, director, writer, producer, and actor. His work often revolves around the romance of connection and the way exploring your universe changes you and the place you explore. He grew up a cowboy with an interest in physics, and has worked in both construction and science before becoming a filmmaker. He adores feral cats and still genuinely loves making things. He splits his time between teaching at the University of Colorado and making his own films.

Filmography: Six in Austin: Out of Bounds (2002); Mars (2010); Loves Her Gun (2012)