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The Rider

Directed by Chloé Zhao

United States • 2017 • 104 mins.

Showtimes & Past Screenings

Zhao’s enthralling portrait of America’s cowboy culture provides an archetypal story of a man redefining his hopes and ambitions. Once a rising star on the rodeo circuit, Brady is warned that his competition days are over after a tragic riding accident. Back home in South Dakota, he finds himself wondering what he has to live for when he can no longer do what gives him a sense of purpose. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man. “The Rider is a rare gem, a small, acutely observed portrait . . . of a tough way of life, one that produces and requires a strong sense of identity and values.”—The Hollywood Reporter.

Filmography: Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)

Reviews: Little White Lies, Village Voice, IndieWire, Variety

Interviews: Reverse Shot, MUBI Notebook, Village Voice

Appears in: 41st Portland International Film Festival, PIFF 41: New Directors

The Northwest Film Center recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands. These include the Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Kathlemet, Molalla, Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past, present, future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.