The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation will host a screening of the award-winning movie, “Unbranded,” on October 28 at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the Bush Center Complex on the campus of Texas A&M University.
The film tells the story of four men — all Texas A&M graduates – as they travel through the deepest backcountry from Mexico through the American West and up to Canada riding 16 Mustangs. The horses were specially chosen and trained for the trip, which took five and a half months. A trailer of the movie can be seen here.
The Aggie riders are Ben Masters, Thomas Glover, Jonny Fitzsimons and Ben Thamer. They wrote a book as a companion endeavor to the film, which was published by the Texas A&M University Press. More information about the book is available here.
In addition to having the trip of a lifetime, the team set out to inspire adoptions for the 50,000 wild horses living in holding pens and to bring attention to the fragile ecosystem in which they live.
“Our film set out to let audiences experience this thrilling adventure so they would feel as passionately about environmental issues as we do. Given the enthusiastic response from festival audiences, I think we’ve accomplished that goal,” says the film’s producer, Dennis Aig.
The festivals to which Aig refers are the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto and the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival where “Unbranded” took home the Audience Award.
“It is incredible that there is still a stretch of wild public land in the American West that you can ride a horse through from Mexico to Canada,” comments Masters. “I knew the trip would be awesome but I didn’t know the documentary would turn out this great and be so well received across many demographics.”
Gravitas Ventures has acquired the U.S rights to the film, which was released in theaters on September 25. The George Bush Foundation program will include a book sale, with hardcover versions of the book at a reduced price, prior to the 6pm screening and a reception and silent auction will follow. The “Unbranded” crew and filmmakers will participate in a panel discussion of the movie. Also, two of the mustangs featured in the film will be at the event.
The screening is free and open to the public, but registration is required by calling (979) 862-2251 or emailing BushEvents@Bush41.org
