The award-winning documentary short "Bucking Tradition” screens at three upcoming festivals, including the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA, September 26, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sila Productions and Oakland-based Action for Animals are proud to announce the screenings of the award-winning documentary short, “Bucking Tradition,” at three upcoming film festivals over the next few weeks.

The much-anticipated film is scheduled to screen first at the Shout out for Animals Film Festival, an online festival which will feature “Bucking Tradition” on September 28th from 9am to 9pm Cyprus time. The film then moves on to its screening at the Ottawa International Vegan Film Festival on October 6th, and then to The Awareness Film Festival on October 13th, screening during the 1:45pm block of films showing at the Regal at LA Live at 1000 W. Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Concise in its argument and featuring expert testimony, “Bucking Tradition” exposes the fact that most rodeo events feature some kind of inherent inhumane treatment of animals. “No one is suggesting that the competitors or livestock contractors involved in rodeo are deliberately abusing the animals,” says director Sharon Boeckle. “But the competitions themselves have a negative impact on the animals’ emotional and physical welfare.”

Dairy & beef veterinarian Jim Reynolds says, “All animals in rodeos are sentient, meaning they have feelings, they have emotions. That is, in fact, why they are used for rodeo. The calf in the rodeo event would not run if it wasn’t afraid. It runs because it’s afraid for its life.” Chris Berry, Senior Staff Attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, concurs, saying that rodeos “involve tapping into the prey instincts of cows and other animals in order to entertain crowds of spectators, and there’s no way to do that humanely.”

Many supporters of rodeo assert that rodeo competitions are deeply rooted in the American West’s ranching history. But the interview subjects in “Bucking Tradition” dispute that claim. “I’ve never understood why rodeo people keep repeating that ranching and rodeo are the same,” observes Dr. Peggy Larson, who as a veterinarian also works as an Animal Cruelty Investigator. “Ranchers don’t treat their calves that way. Ranchers do not make their horses buck. I never saw any of my ranch clients ride a bull. Ever. So ranching and rodeo are two very different occupations.”

Eric Mills, executive producer of the film and founder of Oakland’s Action for Animals, notes that “true 'sport' involves willing, evenly-matched participants. Rodeo does not qualify. Rather, it's a macho exercise in domination, having little to do with life on a working ranch."

Of greatest concern to the film’s interviewees are rodeo animal injuries. “These little calves, they weigh about 200-250 pounds,” says Larson. During calf roping, “the rope stops that calf cold, and the body keeps going,” she continues. “So it doesn’t take much to imagine the amount of damage that’s done to the the tissues in the neck.”

Rodeo supporters often point to common injuries in other “sports,” saying that an expectation of zero injury in any sport is unrealistic. But Reynolds is quick to address that as a false comparison: “You know, football players get injured. They chose to do this. These animals don’t get a choice. Sometimes the rodeo supporters say, well… if you don’t like rodeo you don’t buy a ticket. That’s fine but the animals don’t have a choice in this.”

Prior to the upcoming screenings, “Bucking Tradition” took home the “Special Mention” award at the Los Angeles One-Reeler Short Film Competition and screened at the NOVA International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for an award. The filmmakers are now in pre-production on a feature version of the film.

To watch “Bucking Tradition” online as part of the Shout out for Animals Film Festival on September 28th, visit http://annagcyprus.wixsite.com/sofafilmfestival/screening28th. To secure tickets to the October 6th screening in Ottawa, visit http://www.oivff.com/, and to purchase tickets to view the film in Los Angeles at the Awareness Film Festival on October 13th, visit: https://www.awarenessfestival.org/event/bucking-tradition/

For more information on the film or the issue, visit www.buckingtradition.com and https://www.facebook.com/EricMillsAFA/.

Eric Mills
Action for Animals
+1 510-652-5603
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