New film documents Siksika woman’s journey competing in male-dominated horse races

Banchi Hanuse was directing a TV series when she was approached by a producer with the idea to work on a documentary film about women who race horses.

A male-dominated sport, Indian Relay Races consist of a team who work together to race multiple horses bareback around a track. The Nuxalk filmmaker was immediately intrigued.

While looking through a list of female racers from across western “Canada” with producer Izzy Pullen, Hanuse remembers one woman standing out: Logan Red Crow from Siksika Nation in Treaty 7 territories.

“The reason why I felt strongly about this story is because I feel like this family is such a beautiful, loving, kind, hardworking, compassionate family,” said Hanuse in an interview.

“It was something that I wanted Nuxalk people to see, I wanted other Indigenous people to see.”

Red Crow’s journey of riding horses in Indian Relay Races is documented in Hanuse’s recent documentary Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi: Before The Sun.

The film has been making the rounds at many film festivals across “Canada” and the “U.S.” and is set to screen at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) this upcoming Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Telling Logan Red Crow’s story

The film, shot over a nine-month period, gives viewers a glimpse into Red Crow’s life before the races — showing her on the farm taking care of the horses. It also showcases the thrilling times Logan has while at the races, including how she prepares with the horses and then how she winds down afterwards.

Indian Relay Races are a team sport often seen in rodeos, involving a rider who races horses around a track. There are multiple horses and the rider must switch off every time they complete a lap with the help of the rest of their relay team. 

The live transitions are where contestants are at risk of injury as riders are returning to dismount their horses and trying to move back onto the track with their next horses at the same time. 

The Calgary Stampede website describes Indian Relay Racing as “a high-adrenaline event that requires a powerful combination of teamwork, precision and horsemanship.”

As Red Crow grew up, she was told to talk to her horses, because they are an important part of the team — and her entire family shows this respect for the animals throughout the documentary. The film incorporates humour and a sincere family dynamic making it a well-rounded story. 

In the film, Red Crow is shown to have a close connection to her grandparents. Though her grandma passed away, Red Crow asked that she watch over her while competing at the Calgary Stampede. 

Red Crow is also constantly around her grandpa and while he didn’t speak much in the film, he did wish her good luck before she went to compete in Enoch Cree Nation in 2021. This race was the first female Indian Relay Race in “Canada.”

Logan’s father, Allison Red Crow who is the creator and owner of the relay team Old Sun, is also featured in the film, helping Logan with her racing while also racing his own team. Red Crow had previously fallen off her horse while racing and ended up getting hurt which worried her father, but he continued to be supportive of her despite his concerns for her safety.

Red Crow’s story has hardships, especially seeing as Indian Relay Races are male dominated with very few women’s races being offered. At the Calgary Stampede in 2021, Red Crow became the first female relay racer to compete at the event — with the announcer referring to her as “him” throughout the whole race. 

Making of the documentary

Hanuse recalled the non-stop nature of working with the Red Crow family to make the film.

“The Red Crows are incredibly busy people, they never stop,” she said.

She added that while filming, “you kind of just stand back and watch them flying around everywhere.”

The Red Crows were unable to attend the “Alberta” premiere of the film, as Logan was off racing in Lethbridge, but Hanuse said they did have a private screening for the community back in December of 2022. Red Crow was also able to attend the film’s Canadian premiere at the Hot Docs festival in “Toronto.” 

Speaking on some of the impactful shots in the film, Hanuse had gathered images before filming to give herself an idea of potential moments to capture for the documentary.

“It’s a lot of movement, so it is a bit challenging to capture that,” she said.

At the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) premiere on Sept. 23, a member of the audience asked about the music in the film and applauded the sound team on their use of music to amplify Red Crow’s story. 

Hanuse responded that they worked with Burnstick, a duo comprised of Jason and Nadia Burnstick, who perform and compose music which includes traditional drumming and acoustic guitar.

Ariana Brophy, who worked on sound for the film, spoke on how Hanuse had approached the sound department and wanted many natural sounds to be used in post production. 

”We spent a lot of time walking around and trying to capture the sounds of the farm, the animals,” which would make it feel like you were in the farm with the Red Crows, she said.

Hanuse previously worked on the documentaries Nuxalk Radio, through Lantern Films, and Cry Rock with her company Smayaykila Films. 

She wrote and directed Cry Rock, her first film, in 2010 — but her love for film started young, making “movies” with her friends when she was just a teenager.

Now, her work is critically acclaimed — Aitamaako’Tamisskapi Natosi: Before The Sun just made its debut this year and has already won multiple Leo Awards and has been lauded at various film festivals.

Along with VIFF, upcoming screenings are set to take place in other cities across “Canada” and the “U.S.” — a full list can be found here.

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Editor’s note: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated Red Crow was racing in Casper during a screening of the film but in fact it was Lethbridge. A previous version also identified “Nuxalk Radio” as being produced through Hanuse’s production company — in fact it was produced through Lantern Films. We apologize for the error.