Event

Buffalo Rider

JANUARY 30, SATURDAY AT 5PM
BUFFALO RIDER US premiere if not in Sundance
(Joel Soisson, USA, live action, 2015, 94 min)
Ages 11+ . In English and Thai with English subtitles.

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Shattered by the death of her mother, Jenny, a 13-year-old girl, becomes withdrawn and combative. As a kind of shock therapy, the girl's American stepfather sends her to live with her Thai grandmother in the backcountry of central Thailand. Jenny sees herself as a captive on an alien planet until she meets Boonrod, a peasant boy shunned by his village, whose only friend is his water buffalo, Samlee. Jenny sets out to defend the boy against his tormentors, only to realize that neither she nor the boy will ever prevail until they win the town's respect. And to do that, Boonrod must overcome impossible odds to win the annual buffalo race a death-defying bareback sprint astride charging bulls.

Notes to parents: This film tackles tough subject matter, including grief and bullying, on its way through an uplifting story about friendship and redemption. Both kids and adults sometimes make poor decisions, leading to realizations that they need to correct what they did wrong. There is some coarse language and there are also a few scary moments with good resolutions. One adult drinks too much and also harshly disciplines his child.