The kick-off to production on Canadian director Sean Cisterna’s new film had a bigger audience than most.

Production on the Canada-Brazil copro Long Ride Home began in July at the Calgary Stampede in Alberta in front of 20,000 people, which, producers say, makes this the first narrative feature film to be shot at the annual event. That was followed by a shoot this past week in São Paulo at the Festa do Peão de Barretos, Brazil’s largest rodeo, where the production filmed sequences in front of a 40,000-person crowd.

Written and directed by Cisterna and starring Brazilian actor Caio Castro, the film is based on the memoir of the same name by Filipe Masetti Leite and recounts his two-year journey from Alberta to Brazil on horseback.

Leite is a producer on the film, alongside Kyle Bornais of Winnipeg’s Farpoint Films, Gui Pereira of Brazil’s Dodô Filmes, Peter Hawkins, and Arnon Melo.

Cisterna optioned the rights to Leite’s memoir in 2020 under his company Mythic Productions. He also directed a documentary on Leite’s journey, titled The Long Rider, which was released in Canada in 2022 on Super Channel.

The film is expected to wrap in summer 2024, but is currently facing delays in casting due to the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike.

Long Ride Home is being financed with private equity from Canada and Brazil, as well as tax credits, and western apparel company Wrangler is on board as the film’s official clothing sponsor. Additional partners and cast members will be announced at a later date.

“This is an epic international film that is being made by a passionate team who all love Filipe and his story that smashed down borders,” said Cisterna in a statement. “Long Ride Home is a modern day Odyssey, a return from darkness to light and life.”

Image courtesy of Sean Cisterna