Women’s Ranch Bronc Riding Documentary Selected for Toronto International Film Festival

The film, titled 'Cheyenne,' follows cowgirls and league organizers for an entire year, showcasing a behind-the-scenes look at the world of rodeo.

'Cheyenne,' a documentary about the Women's Ranch Bronc Championship league, will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. | Photo courtesy of the WRBC

The words on the page and the accompanying photos struck Taimi Arvidson so much that she couldn’t let it go. 

Arvidson, a documentary filmmaker, came across a magazine article several years ago that highlighted the Women’s Ranch Bronc Championship, an organization overseeing professional cowgirls competing in roughstock across the country. An Oregon native, Arvidson previously attended the Pendleton Round-Up. Her mother had grown up around horses on a ranch. 

But this was something different. 

“You see an image of it and you’re like, ‘Wow.’ It grabs you and you want to know more and that’s how it was for me,” Arvidson said. 

That initial spark became the launch point for a deep dive into the world of women’s ranch bronc riding, with Arvidson tagging along to get an unscripted, unfettered look at the cowgirls and organizers that bring the WRBC to life. 

On Wednesday, the Toronto International Film Festival announced her film, Cheyenne, had been selected as one of 21 documentaries to be showcased at this year’s event. The festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, will run September 10-20 with the full schedule of screenings to be announced on August 11. Distribution plans for the film following the festival are still in the works with an announcement expected soon. 

When Arvidson initially approached WRBC co-founders Daryl and Michelle McElroy, the couple were wary of allowing cameras behind-the-scenes. In the organization's early days, a reality television production was put together on the WRBC. While it initially helped amplify the sport to a wider audience, the storytelling eventually deviated from what the McElroys had hoped for. 

Conversations about a potential documentary were ongoing for six-plus months, with Arvidson pleading her case. The McElroys eventually reviewed Arvidson’s extensive portfolio and determined this project wouldn’t be a repeat of their previous experience. 

The only rule – if they were going to make a film, they’d have to get the full rodeo experience. 

“We ran them ragged. We said, ‘Get in and let’s go,'” Daryl said. “We would leave one rodeo at 10 at night and drive all night to get to another rodeo the next day. They saw what it was like – and they loved it.”

Added Arvidson: “We lived in our cars. I brought my Subaru out from New York. I lived with some of the girls. I lived in the bunk houses on the ranches that they worked on. I slept in the guest bedroom at Daryl and Michelle‘s house. We were kind of part of that whole circuit thing for a year.”

Opening with the next generation of cowgirls training at a riding school in North Dakota and concluding with the world championship competition at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo, the film follows the trials and tribulations of rodeo over the course of a season. It recounts everything, from the joy of victory to one rider’s near-death experience following an accident during a competition. 

“They were there for that entire thing. They saw it all,” Daryl said. “They saw how hard it is on everybody and how just in the blink of an eye we can go from having a great time, tearing it up, to a sudden stop and everybody is praying and at the hospital trying to figure stuff out.”

Arvidson hopes the film puts a spotlight on what rodeo competitors battle, both in and out of the arena. It’s a showcase of women proving to themselves – and the world – their physical and mental strength. 

Being selected to Toronto was the last stop on a full-circle journey that began as curiosity. A magazine article and photos made Arvidson want to learn more. Now, it’s a story set to unfold on an international stage. 

“I’ve never met women like these women. They are really, really brave. Not only just to get on a bucking horse, but to work through the things that they’re working through in their lives and the rodeo is helping them work through that,” Arvidson said. “There aren’t words for (being selected). This is literally a dream come true. And I know that’s the easiest thing to say ever, but it literally is a dream come true for me. We’re so honored.”