HANNAH PETERSON
COWBOY POETRY

 HEARD CITY Post Production (sound editing and mixing) Grant

The Project: Cowboy Poetry is a meditative portrait of cowboy poetry culture, which combines behind the scenes footage of the Gathering with footage of the cowboy poets in their homes, including rare footage of legendary Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Cowboy poetry originated on the trail drives north from Texas after the Civil War, as a way for cowhands to pass time around the campfire, telling stories to the rhythm of traditional ballads and the popular poetry of the time. In 1985, Hal Canon, with the help of several others, established the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, a town of about 10,000 people. Originally intended as a one-off weekend performance, the Gathering is now a weeklong event that brings together thousands of individuals to watch performances, participate in workshops, and gather as a community to pass down narratives and practices from the rural West.

The Filmmaker: Hannah Peterson is a film director living and working in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of the MFA program in Film Directing at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and has worked closely with filmmakers Sean Baker and Chloé Zhao. Filmmaker Magazine named Hannah as one of 25 new faces of independent film. Her film, East of the River, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival 2019 where it won a jury honorable mention and Hannah was awarded the Russo brothers fellowship. Hannah directed the original series Shook for Disney Channel, executive produced by the Duplass Brothers and most recently was awarded the 2019 Tribeca CHANEL Through Her Lens program grant. 

 Follow on Instagram (@hannahloganpeterson) & Twitter (@han__logan)