Auction

A portrait of a cattle auction, the cultural focal point in the dying town of Gonzales, Texas.
by
Year Released
2015
Film Length(s)
8 mins
Remote video URL

Introduction

The town of Gonzalez, Texas is not what it used to be, Main street is desolate, the population is shrinking, but the culture and history live on through story and communal gathering at this once a week tradition that has been alive since the turn of the century.

Synopsis

In the small town of Gonzalez, Texas, a cattle auction of old-timers from the community come weekly to bid on cattle and see each other. In a time when farmland is being developed on and old time ranchers our dying out, this small cattle auction continues. The town of Gonzalez, Texas is not what it used to be, Main street is desolate, the population is shrinking, but the culture and history live on through story and communal gathering at this once a week tradition that has been going on since the turn of the century.

Director Commentary

I was living in Austin, Texas at the time and was curious to explore rural East Texas, a very foreign land to my city roots. The irony being once I arrived, the first rancher who greeted me with a friendly handshake called out to his friends that they had “a foreigner over here”. I love as a filmmaker to explore different worlds and the camera gives me permission and reason to do so. The cowboy and small town Texas cultures is a world within its own. Many families go back five to ten generations where their ancestors were wrangling cattle across state lines on horseback. As the auctioneer in the film states selling cattle at the Auction was a way of life and would give money to buy necessities in town. And back then it was very happening on the town square where now it is desolate. Maybe I have an overly strong nostalgic gene in me but I can empathize with the cowboys’ sentimentality of a past way of life. I hope with this film that the viewer can catch a glimpse of this feeling, this world and how it is today.

Features and Languages

Film/Audio Languages

  • English

Promotional Material

Promotional Stills

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