Film follows Ganter’s comeback and explores rodeo roots
CHEYENNE — The documentary “Outriding the Devil”, which traces the career and personal trials of world champion barrel racer Angela Ganter, will make its Cheyenne debut Thursday at 7 p.m. at Capitol Cinema 16.
The film centers on Ganter’s return to top-level rodeo competition after the death of her husband and a battle with stage 4 cancer. While she is the story’s anchor, the director and producers broaden the scope to examine the traditions and history that underpin American rodeo and Western culture.
Director Raen LeVell, who has lived in Park County for 34 years and is of Roma descent, worked with senior producer Erin Mitchell to follow Ganter across the rodeo circuit. Their production began after LeVell encountered Ganter’s profile at the Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame and met her in February 2024; filming picked up that summer.
“I told him about (my own experience) going to a rodeo for the first time and seeing this little girl barrel racing, and having tears just flow out of my eyes,” Mitchell said.
On the road with a champion
LeVell and Mitchell captured footage at major rodeo stops, beginning with Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2024 and continuing to arenas in Calgary, Las Vegas and several Texas cities. The film premiered last year at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and now returns to Wyoming with a hometown screening.
To deepen the narrative, the filmmakers included dramatized reenactments of conversations and family scenes. Those segments were shot at the Mescal Movie Set in Arizona — a studio location used for notable Westerns such as Tombstone, The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Quick and the Dead — bringing staged period detail to the documentary’s context.
- Where: Capitol Cinema 16, Cheyenne
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Director: Raen LeVell; Senior producer: Erin Mitchell
For Albany County and the wider Wyoming rodeo community, the film’s Cheyenne showing highlights local ties to a sport that combines athleticism, regional identity and family tradition. It also gives area audiences the chance to see a story filmed in part at one of Wyoming’s marquee events — Cheyenne Frontier Days — and to consider how contemporary rodeo narratives connect to broader Western heritage.
| Filming highlights | Locations |
|---|---|
| Initial coverage | Cheyenne Frontier Days (2024) |
| On tour | Calgary, Las Vegas, Texas cities |
| Dramatizations | Mescal Movie Set, Arizona |
The Cheyenne screening follows the documentary’s festival run and offers residents an opportunity to see how one competitor’s resilience has been framed alongside the cultural traditions of rodeo across North America.
