Rowdy Girl is an observational animal advocacy documentary that carries a pleasantly zen-like tone and softness to go alongside its impassioned message.
Filmmaker Jason Goldman travels to Texas and pays a visit to former cattle rancher Renee King-Sonnen and her husband, Tommy, who have turned their former factory farm into a sanctuary for animals that would normally be turned into meat products. The Rowdy Girl Sanctuary (named after one of the resident cows) has made it their mission to help other farmers looking to pivot away from the slaughter of animals and towards plant based agriculture.
Although Goldman never conducts formal sit down interviews with Renee or Tommy, there are plenty of moments where she’s seen trying to win over converts with a great deal of passion and warmth. The saving of animals means quite a bit to Renee, who speaks at great length of the struggles of going vegan and being a recovering alcoholic. But while her passion provides Rowdy Girl with a narrative backbone that Goldman can easily build a profile around, the real joy is in the details here.
Rowdy Girl shows just how much care and attentiveness Renee and her staff put into the welfare of not only the animals, but also the lives of the farmers they have brought into the fold. There’s a distinct kindness and gentility here that a lot of similarly minded films lack. Rowdy Girl nicely places the focus on the preservation of life and evolving with the times rather than the inevitability and cruelty of death. In that respect, the film has the potential to make meaningful change.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 – 9:00 pm – TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Rowdy Girl will be available to stream across Canada via Hot Docs from May 5th to 9th.
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