
Bitterbrush. 2021. USA. Directed by Emelie Mahdavian. New York premiere. 91 min.
Bitterbrush is a bittersweet, quietly modern portrait of women’s work, following the skilled and unflappable Hollyn and Colie, hired hands who herd livestock through the solemn mountains and wide-open plains of the American West, over a summer on the range. Spare and measured, the film picks up on the friendship that bonds the young women in a rugged way of life. As they contemplate their futures, the magnificent beauty of their momentary home in remote Idaho subtly reveals the effects of an American industry in peril.