Jessi, Naia and Shelby are just like any other girls. Or are they? Born in the heart of traditional Texas, heirs to a historically male-dominated pastoral culture, they are part of a new generation of women shaking up the male world of rodeo. Jessi is 16 and has several dozen victories under her belt. Naia, at the tender age of 9, already dreams of following in the footsteps of her father, a former rodeo champion. Shelby, 12, is one of the few girls who starts bull riding. All of them are totally dedicated to rodeo, a sport that makes them push their limits and leaves them little room for error. For these girls in their cowboy outfits, rodeo is much more than a tradition that has to be perpetuated. It is a process for constructing their identities, a way of finding themselves. Each of these fearless girls dreams of conquest, of forbidden territories and of victory. Their challenge is to carve out a place in this demanding universe and find the strength to assert themselves in it as unique individuals.

By following them in their daily lives as children and teenagers, the film takes us to the heart of a changing world where the cowboy is a woman, a girl, a Calamity Jane in search of freedom. We see how Jessi, Shelby and Naia have appropriated rodeo and its traditional values, turning them into a tool for emancipation, and we accompany and observe them as they free themselves from the chains that bind them. For despite the pressure they are under, self-inflicted or imposed by other people, they are still at the mercy of the angst that is part and parcel of their age. Rodeo Girls takes a fresh look at the changes affecting our societies and at the people playing an active role in those changes.

-- Dir. Justine Morvan & Kévin Noguès - 58min - 2023 - France --

"shows a slice of the daily life of American teenagers, in a world attached to land and animals, far from urban landscapes and its revolts.” - Le Monde

"An ancestral art from the southern state that deeply encourages the emancipation of women in a conservative environment. Despite the pain, the sacrifices, and the fear, these young hopefuls, covered in sand, savour their freedom, hair blowing in the wind." - Le Figaro