SANTA BARBARA– Screening of Fire on the Hill: The Cowboys of South Central L.A.

SANTA BARBARA– Screening of Fire on the Hill: The Cowboys of South Central L.A. will be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Friday, February 1st at 7 pm  and on Sunday, February 3 at 4 pm. Long before it was known for its hip-hop and gang culture, South Central Los Angeles was home to one of the most recognized cowboy communities in the nation. Yet after decades of urban development and rising street gang activity, this community—which had produced world champions—shrunk to all but a one-block horse stable known as “The Hill.” When a mysterious fire destroys the stable in 2012, the future of this once thriving culture finds itself at the brink of vanishing forever.  The film follows three cowboys in the wake of the fire. Ghuan, seeing the fire as an opportunity to resurrect the stable in his own vision must win over the broken cowboy community and hunt down the land’s estranged owner before developers get to it first. Chris, a rising bull rider from Compton, enters into his rookie year of professional rodeo and discovers that the LA streets aren’t so easy to leave behind. And Calvin, having found freedom on the back of a horse, must choose between the cowboy lifestyle and his family when his inner demons come back to haunt him.  FIRE ON THE HILL paints a portrait of the little-known urban cowboy community in South Central LA. Together, these three stories of perseverance shine a new light on what it means to be a “cowboy” in our modern world. This genre-bending documentary combines western film style with South Central’s urban landscape to depict Los Angeles like it has never been seen before.  Directed by Brett Fallentine Produced by Brett Fallentine, Sean-Michael Smith, Jenna Cedicci, Jordana Glick-Franzheim, Steven Amato Written by Brett Fallentine Starring Ghuan Featherstone, Calvin Gray, Chris Byrd Country – USA 84 mins. Fire on the Hill is supported by California Humanities through a California Documentary Project grant.