SXSW Film: Go Inside the World of Professional Bull Riding with "Rank" (and maybe win a video iPod)

Remember us telling you about the funny and entertaining documentary The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat and Beers that played at the Alamo last month, right? Come on kids, Think! That film was brought to you by the good people over at Bside Entertainment, a recent edition to Austin's independent film community that is looking to stay on the cutting edge of the way independent cinema is released, distributed and marketed. Well, apparently there is enough creativity in the Hyams family for everyone to get a piece. After all, the patriarch of said family is accomplished filmmaker Peter Hyams. As evidenced in The Outdoorsmen, the apples do not fall terribly far from the tree. Further proof: John Hyams' "Rank", a documentary that makes its worldwide premiere tomorrow at SXSW Film (Paramount, 11am). Rank goes inside the lives of three top bull riders as they compete for the figurative brass ring (in actuality it is a big-ass gold buckle) and the $1 million purse at the end of the brutal rainbow of pain that is the professional rodeo circuit. We mixing metaphors enough for you? Good. Keep up. This is Hyams' second documentary to premiere at a major film festival; his movie The Smashing Machine premiered at Tribeca in 2002.

As we mentioned, this is a joint effort by the brothers, in that one made the film and the other is promoting it. And the promotion caught our attention almost as effectively as the interesting subject matter of Rank. To support the premiere, Bside is running a festival-long contest with eight video iPods going to eight lucky filmgoers. Get it, 8 iPods, 8 seconds of staying on a bull? Oh don't act like you don't know the rules behind competitive bull riding you erudite lot, you. The Bside folks will handing out its "I'm Never Wrong" t-shirts at their booth (117) and in film lines throughout the festival. (Hint: They will probably be a the world premiere of a certain Robert Altman film tonight.) If they then spot you sporting said t-shirt at one of the three screenings of Rank, you could win a video iPod. They will also be patrolling other screenings. So, you never know. Genius.

So if you see someone passing out shirts form Bside, grab one, fool. Then wear it. Just think of all the Chris Gaines Garth Brooks videos you can download. We think the promotion is a great idea to help get out the word about what promises to be an excellent documentary. See you at the rodeo movies!

"Rank"
SXSW Showtimes