“Untouchable” is a raw and visceral slice of rodeo life. Bringing the viewer into the gritty and unforgiving world of bull riders both in the chutes, and on the road.

The untamed spirit of rodeo culture comes alive in Untouchable, a gripping documentary by Lucas Dabrowski that immerses viewers in the high-stakes world of bull riding. With an unfiltered lens, the film captures the physical and mental toll endured by riders as they face the unpredictable power of their opponents—1,500-pound bulls. Beyond the arena, Untouchable follows these athletes on the road, revealing the sacrifices, camaraderie, and unwavering dedication that fuel their pursuit of the ultimate eight-second ride.

Blending documentary and experimental elements, Dabrowski crafts a visceral experience that goes beyond the spectacle of the sport. The film strips away the glamour often associated with rodeo, instead exposing the grit, pain, and unrelenting passion that drive these riders. Through striking cinematography and intimate storytelling, Untouchable delves into the essence of what it means to risk everything for a fleeting moment of victory.

Untouchable has a fast-paced and visceral energy. What inspired this approach rather than a more traditional, informative documentary style?

I have a long-winded answer for this. My DP Kristofer Bonnell and I knew that we wanted to tell some sort of visual story in the rodeo world and we just jumped right in. We found a local rodeo company that toured around Ontario, Canada hosting rodeos every weekend during the summer. The plan was to immerse ourselves in their world with an open and exploratory mind. We went to the rodeo events and let ourselves see whose story we gravitated to. There were interesting characters and natural protagonists in the rodeo circuit that we could have zeroed in on, telling a story from their POV. Maybe it was my ADHD brain, or maybe it wasn’t, but as I took in more of this world, I felt that there was so much more to tell and show than an individual story. So at that point we shifted our approach to – let’s try to bottle the visceral and primal essence of this lifestyle. And I think we did that while still having some characters helping us along the journey.

The film captures the raw intensity of bull riding in a very short amount of time. How did you decide what moments to focus on?

I believe it was that shift in the creative direction of this film that gave us clarity for what to focus on. It helped with me being immersed in their world for a bit. You pick up on the little idiosyncrasies, the banter amongst bull riders, their pre-ride routines and superstitions – all these bits of real world incite helped steer us in an authentic direction for what to tell. It was also important for me to show the slower moments outside of the bull ring. It’s not all explosions, mud flying, and impacts. A big part of a bull rider lifestyle is life on the road, sleeping in shitty motels between rodeos, being bruised and battered yet still riding. Of course I wish could have expanded on this side of things more. But I feel what we did capture, did give us a a good juxtaposition to the raw and visceral visuals.

There’s little exposition—viewers are thrown right into the action. How did you craft the storytelling to be more experiential than explanatory?

I gotta give kudos to my editor Steve Puhach, we went through so many iterations and versions of this film. There were endless directions we could have taken and you can really get lost in the trees. I interviewed a lot of the cowboys and we tried shaping a narration out of those to steer the film but it felt too convoluted.

Steve floated this idea of these cowboys being untouchable or at least feeling that way. No matter gets thrown at them or how hard they fall, they kept coming back for another hit of their drug of choice, bull riding. From there we crafted a narration VO that spoke to that idea of being Untouchable and things really fell into place. The cheeky yet sometimes poetic VO helped us tie everything together without being overly expository.

The sound design and editing create a high-impact, almost hypnotic rhythm. Can you talk about the creative choices behind that?

What excited me the most about telling a story in this world was its rich and diverse soundscape. I’ve always felt that sound design has the biggest emotional impact on the viewer. So from the start, I knew that was an element we would be leaning into. Shooting on film we didn’t have opportunities to record sync sound. But I always brought a handheld sound recorder with me to capture all the audio textures and elements I could.

Our editor Steve Puhach tapped into these sound elements that helped form the cadence and punctuation of the picture edit. And then having our sound designer Ethan Myers to take and embellish the soundscape to a whole other level. Overall I wanted to have the soundscape relatively grounded in reality but have moments where we could push it more hyperreal to give it that visceral bite.

What emotions or sensations did you want audiences to feel while watching Untouchable

I remember showing up to our first rodeo to film, we didn’t know what we were filming or what to really expect. I think my DP Kristofer and I were both blown away by the primal and visceral energy of it all. It truly is an unforgiving man vs beast scenario that you can’t look away from. I wanted to infuse that feeling in the film.

Were there any particular stylistic influences—whether from films, photography, or other mediums—that shaped your vision for Untouchable?

What really kicked this all off for me was when I came across an old photo book on rodeos and bull riding. The raw and untameable imagery just kinda stopped me in my tracks, and I then knew I wanted to make something in this world. And even more, I wanted to create something that invoked those same feelings I had from the photos. Every year I try to shoot a passion project and this one was simply born through seeing a photograph.

I believe the photo book was shot sometime in the 1960s so there was a vintage aesthetic to the 35mm film photography of the time. I was definitely influenced by those first photos I saw but it only felt right for us to shoot this project on motion picture film. We shot on 16mm which came with it’s own challenges and limitations, especially the fast-paced rodeo world but I’m happy we went this route.

The visuals are intense and almost dreamlike at times. How much of that was planned, and how much was discovered in the edit?

This film is definitely grounded in its documentary roots. We went into this as flies on the wall, capturing the world as it happened around the camera. But as we spent more time, over multiple rodeos, we saw the lose order of operations and learned where we could put the camera to capture specific beats. Of course this rarely worked and is frustrating as a director who likes to craft documentaries that feel cinematic and not like … a doc.

That said, we had to cast a wide net and shoot a lot to give us what we needed in the edit. I would say 80% is pure doc and then the remaining vignettes and beats were planned to help move the story. We had a shoot day in a bull pen that allowed us to get in close and move the camera around the bulls and riders that we would never have been able to at a real rodeo event.

If you had more time, would you have expanded the film, or do you feel its brevity is key to its impact?

If I had more time I would have loved to expand on the world in which the film takes place. As I mentioned before, I would have loved to see more what happens outside of the rodeo. What drew me into this world was the cowboys themselves. There’s a mix of “weekend warriors” who do this just for fun who still hold a day job and then there’s the ones who are semi pro that are on the brink of making it. I always thought it would be cool to see a beat up cowboy as they go about their day job during the week. Or another rider with his young family at the dinner table, just to hard cut to him back on a bull at the next weekend rodeo.

I feel the film in and of itself paints a great overall picture of the rodeo world. But I have ambitions of telling an individual story that takes place in that world in a longer and bigger scale.

What are the books, podcasts or even YouTube Channel that you recommend young filmmakers to get their hands on?

They aren’t producing anymore podcasts but “Good” by Christian Shultz and Jared Hogan has an incredible lineup of filmmaker guests.
“Creative Gap” podcast is in a similar realm.
“Team Deakins” Podcast
Not for filmmakers but I think everyone should read the “Dopamine Nation” book.

Can you share with us some of your favorite short films you’ve seen lately?

Last Minutes with Oden – Eliot Rausch
Oceans On Fire – Sandra Winther
“I’m Not a Robot (Watch on FS)” – Victoria Warmerdam