Bucking Tradition, directed by Sharon M. Boeckle, has won both Best Overall Film and Best Animal Welfare Film at this year’s Ottawa International Vegan Film Festival (OIVFF).
The film, which takes a ‘brutal and honest look at animal abuse on the rodeo circuit‘, scooped top prize out of 40 submissions, from 13 countries around the world.
‘Cringe in horror’
In a statement sent to Plant Based News, Festival Judge Jim Amos said: “We often cringe in horror at the animal cruelty we see inflicted in the name of ‘sport’ around the world such as those committed in the bullfighting ring but are blind to the blatant abuse of animals right in our backyard on the rodeo circuit.
“Bucking Tradition did a masterful job at depicting the often-irreparable injuries suffered by bulls and calves at hundreds of these events across the country every year, all in the name of carrying on one of the last remaining traditions of the American West.”
73 Cows
Last year, director Alex Lockwood was crowned overall winner for his documentary 73 Cows – following the story of former cattle farmer Jay Wilde who gave his cows to a sanctuary to turn to vegetable farming.
The film went on to win a BAFTA for Best Short Film and was viewed more than 150,000 times in under two days following its online release.