Luke Gilford’s dazzling 2020 photography book, “National Anthem: America’s Queer Rodeo,” introduced people in the art and photography worlds to gay rodeos. It’s a subject Gilford knows firsthand, having jumped into that world in 2016 and held on through the pandemic to adapt his book into a movie.
“National Anthem,” which sees its Colorado premiere Friday, July 12, at Denver’s Sie FilmCenter (denverfilm.org), seems likely to reach many more, as that screening will be followed by additional runs starting July 19 at seven theaters in Denver, Aurora, Highlands Ranch and Westminster.
Gilford, an Evergreen native now working between New York and Los Angeles, wants to use his directorial debut to not only lead viewers into the world of LGBTQ bull riders, ranch hands and trainers, but also look at the safe spaces they’ve created to enjoy professional rodeo culture outside of macho stereotypes, he said.
“It’s such an ode to the Western, so it’s been nice to finally get to share it with people,” Gilford said via phone this week of the feature, which has been gathering buzz at South by Southwest, the Toronto International Film Festival and others. “I love having these in-person conversations with people (at screenings) and hearing how different folks see themselves reflected in the characters — especially folks from Colorado, who know all about finding their people and themselves in Western landscapes.”
Gilford’s Denver screening, which he will attend, will kick off this weekend’s Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo 41, hosted by the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association. It’s the country’s oldest gay rodeo and one that has survived discrimination and other challenges to become the largest organizing body for the sport. Attendees can enjoy an opening concert from Dixon Dallas Friday night before the Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, July 14, competitive events, all taking place at the National Western Center.
The location is meaningful, Gilford said, as it shows that gay rodeos are as legitimate and competitive as the mainstream ones that share the venue. When gay rodeos first started, organizers were turned away from traditional arenas and stockyards due to fear and hostility, particularly as AIDS began ravaging the gay community. LGBTQ people were targeted in 1992 with Colorado’s Amendment 2, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1996, but not before characterizing Colorado as a “hate state,” researchers Rebecca Scofield and Elyssa Ford wrote in an article published in The Denver Post.
“The Colorado Gay Rodeo Association packed stands at its 40th anniversary rodeo in 2023, but it may have a bumpy ride ahead,” they wrote, referencing the local and national threats to queer people in 2024, including official, right-wing political platforms that aggressively legislate against LGBTQ people, or call for the eradication of transgenderism (and, some have argued, transgender people in general).
And yet, Gilford doesn’t want to play into clichés about the tragic struggle of queer people in rural environments. Yes, their health resources are usually nonexistent, he said. Studies have shown that trans and nonbinary people in particular face widespread, fundamental threats to their mental and physical well-being in rural areas. Gilford’s not ignoring the pain represented in films such as “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Mathew Shepard Story” or “The Power of the Dog,” he said.
“Growing up in mainstream rodeo circuit, it was a pretty homophobic environment,” said Gilford, whose father was a rider in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “Oftentimes rodeo clowns are mocking queer people, and it’s just a very patriarchal, misogynistic place.
“I don’t like to generalize, though, because there is an overlap between people who work in those worlds. It’s part of why this (gay rodeo) community exists,” he said. “We can love Western culture and all the beauty of it, but we can also be ourselves.”
The home life of “National Anthem” lead character Dylan (Charlie Plummer) is meant to evoke Gilford’s childhood in Evergreen, even if the queer ranch he ends up at, House of Splendor, was something Gilford never saw until he was older. Dylan, a 21-year-old construction worker in New Mexico, falls in love with trans rodeo rider Sky (Eve Lindley), and gets accepted into the tight-knit, adopted family of performers, navigating messy emotions and relationships while being awed by the skill and bravery of his ranch-mates.
Being a photographer compelled Gilford to tell stories on people’s faces, and less frequently with dialogue, he said. Shot on 35mm film, cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi’s literal and figurative depictions of freedom and exploration track with Gilford’s character arcs and economical approach.
Gilford’s used to dealing with celebrities, having shot portraits of actors Kristen Stewart, Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”), and Jane Fonda, and musicians such as Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Sabrina Carpenter and Robyn. They’re sexy, dramatic and often set against yawning skies and glossy beaches, drawing a connection directly from vulnerable-yet-defiant humanity to the natural world.
Having been published in Vanity Fair, The New York Times and Vogue, Gilford was a bit of a known quantity. But he still had to adapt to the independent film realm, where productions usually take many years and millions of dollars to get off the ground.
As is the case with other film productions that have passed on Colorado due to relatively paltry tax rebates, Gilford decided to shoot “National Anthem” in New Mexico. He considered Colorado, he said, and would still love to shoot something here in the future.
“I want to continue doing things that are more hopeful and joyful than some of the (queer films) out there,” he said. “It’s the mythological side of America and animals and nature and courtships and blood and sweat and all these things that are a beautiful part of the American West. We can have that, too.”
Originally Published: July 11, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
