Durango Independent Film Festival - Bootwmn
Deana McGuffin is a third generation New Mexico boot maker, handcrafting wearable pieces of art. When she is approached by a Canadian artist and a San Francisco tattooer to create a gay themed cowboy boot, a story unravels of a unique collaboration that takes them to the heart of cowboy country in Northern Texas. BOOTWMN is a heartwarming, intimate and at times funny portrait of the queering of a traditional art form.
Director/Producer Paige Gratland & Sam McWilliams
Watch Bootwmn on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Short Answer: Deana McGuffin. We wanted to craft a film to celebrate and honor this incredible boot maker and person.
Long answer: We (Paige and Sam) were learning to dance two-step in the same-sex Country Western Dance Scene. We obviously needed good looking boots! Inspired by Lucchese's State Boots of 1949-1951, Paige proposed making a gay themed cowboy boot that reworked the conceptual premise of the State Boots using gay slang and symbols. Paige found Deana McGuffin online, and to our surprise she agreed to teach us, two novices with a very ambitious project to complete in three weeks. Watching Deana’s incredibly skilled hands and hearing her stories of resilience, we were inspired to make a film to share our new favorite hero with the world.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Deana is a charming storyteller and totally engaging to watch on film. She learned boot making apprenticeship-style from her father, who learned from his father. So the techniques Deana demonstrates are from as far back as 1907. There are approximately 250 custom cowboy boot makers in North America. The skill is quickly becoming a lost art. Only a handful of makers are women, and only one is the uniquely talented Deana McGuffin. Plus the story takes an interesting turn when Deana, Sam and Paige enter their gay themed boot in a boot making competition in Wichita Falls, Texas.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Overcoming prejudice and expectations experienced both internally and externally is a theme at work in Bootwmn. But also how the weirdest things can bring people together.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
We did not know we were making a movie when we started. We thought we were just taking footage to remember how to make a pair of cowboy boots. So by the time we got to the editing there were four formats to wrangle (phone, iPad, GoPro and HD interview footage shot by Erin Hudson). Luckily we had the visionary Bonnie Rae Brickman as editor, who made all those transitions seamless.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Most importantly Deana likes the film, though she thinks there should be more shots of her dogs.
Bootwmn has played at twenty-seven film festivals, spanning eight countries world wide. We have won Audience Awards at TWIST Seattle Queer Film Festival, USA (Favorite Lesbian Short) and Dyke Drama Film Festival in Perth, AU. Our editor Bonnie Rae Brickman received a Honorable Mention for Best Editor Award at Underwire Film Festival, London, UK and we received Commended Best Documentary from the Women Over 50 Film Festival, Brighton, UK.
We really enjoy all the audiences’ reactions and cheers at every screening we have the good fortune to attend. We are thankful to all who show up to support short documentary films.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We were surprised and thrilled to be invited to HotDocs, the largest documentary film festival in North America! We had the chance to interact with an incredible community of filmmakers, and viewed two profoundly moving, must-see films: Angry Inuk and The Apology. The HotDocs team was incredibly supportive. It was an honor to be in attendance.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We hope that more people will seek out the film Bootwmn, and discover more of Deana’s work athttp://www.mcguffinboots.com and on Instagram @bootwoman13.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We love being invited to screen at film festivals. We welcome more exposure to journalists, film festival directors, buyers and distributors interested in promoting Bootwmn.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We would like to inspire more people to take a course with Deana and experience what it means to make your own pair of boots, moving away from a culture of disposable items and towards the value of one, well-made thing that will last your lifetime.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why cowboy boots?
Would you like to add anything else?
The reason it seems like Deana is flirting with the camera is, well, because she is! We had the charismatic and big hearted Elia Singer conducting the interviews. Elia also helped with second camera and generally created good-will on set. As we all know film-making is a collaborative effort and in our case we relied heavily on the contributions and support of our friends and family.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Deana McGuffin is busy teaching students and making more beautiful work. Follow her on Instagram @bootwoman13 and at http://www.mcguffinboots.com
Paige Gratland & Sam McWilliams are designing a new series of cowboy boots with Deana McGuffin that will start production this November.
Sam McWilliams continues to make tattoos in Vancouver, Canada and San Francisco, USA. Find her on Instagram @sammcwilliams and Facebook: Sam McWilliams Tattoo.
Bonnie Rae Brickman has several editing projects coming up, both documentary and narrative fiction, including the narrative short film 'Heather Has Four Mommies', beautifully written by Rani Deighe Crowe with Director Jeanette Buck, shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Foundation Artists of Choice Award- Film (US) 2016. Along side her editing work, she continues to teach editing on The Ethnographic and Documentary MA Film programme at University College London.
Erin Hudson's upcoming projects can be found here:
Interview: March 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Bootwmn
Deana McGuffin is a third generation New Mexico boot maker, handcrafting wearable pieces of art. When she is approached by a Canadian artist and a San Francisco tattooer to create a gay themed cowboy boot, a story unravels of a unique collaboration that takes them to the heart of cowboy country in Northern Texas. BOOTWMN is a heartwarming, intimate and at times funny portrait of the queering of a traditional art form.
Length: 11 Minutes
Director: Paige Gratland & Sam McWilliams
Producer: Paige Gratland & Sam McWilliams
About the writer, director and producer:
Sam McWilliams is a tattoo artist from San Francisco, California, with a BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts in painting and drawing. Paige Gratland is a Canadian artist who studied film production at Ryerson University (Toronto). Her work has screened at The Images Festival (Toronto), The Anthology Film Archive (NYC) and Inside Out Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Toronto). They both now live in Vancouver, BC, Canada and Bootwmn is their first documentary film.
Key cast: Deana McGuffin
Looking for sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists.
Made in association with: The Canada Council for the Arts and The British Columbia Arts Council.
Where can I see it in the next month?
At The Durango Independent Film Festival, Durango, Colorado, USA