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
Kiowa Gordon, Lily Gladstone, John Way, David Arquette, Frank Mosley, Gary Farmer
USA
2022
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
At The Cinematheque
At The Rio
Book Tickets
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Romería
An orphan from a young age, 18-year-old Marina intends to pursue a university scholarship. The application, however, requires the signatures of her paternal grandparents, compelling her to embark on a pilgrimage and seek out the family she has never met.
Democracy Under Siege
As the USA turns 250, Oscar-nominated director Laura Nix considers the roots of the current political crisis with commentary from historian Heather Cox Richardson, progressive politician Jamie Raskin, and cartoonist Ann Telnaes, among others.
Peter Asher: Everywhere Man
A chart topping pop star as one half of Peter and Gordon, Peter Asher was brother to Jane, brother in law to Paul McCartney, ran the Beatles' Apple, produced and managed James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and 10,000 Maniacs, to name just a few. He did it all.
Another World
This hit anime from Hong Kong gives us an unpredictable, sometimes darkly karmic tale taking place on either side of the afterlife involving a headstrong princess with bad karma and the spirit guide who tries to help her get on a better path.
Unforgiven
Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) is face down in pig shit when we first see him. He's a bad farmer, but has a natural facility for killing people – a vocation to which he returns in a quest that combines both profit and justice. Or so he chooses to believe.
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
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)