a film by EMILY KAYE ALLEN
About the Film
Filmed across unfolding seasons, Eileen–a young, solitary maverick–forges a life among the discarded remnants and lingering memories of a desert ghost town. A queer slice of the contemporary American West, Cisco Kid is both a portrait of a person who has walked away from mainstream society, and a place that has been left behind by a changing world.
A note on the title
Cisco Kid was filmed in Cisco, Utah. People occasionally ask about the fictional character, The Cisco Kid, when they hear the title of my film. Cisco Kid is not a Western, nor did I have any intention to pay homage to Westerns or to the original character. Yet, the film evokes inevitable comparisons to the Western genre, and people have said that Cisco Kid "reimagines," "queers," or "deconstructs" the idea of the Western narrative. In this sense, Cisco Kid appropriates its title from a complicated and often problematic genre and lineage. Irrespective of the original character, the title is meant to describe Eileen, whose ambition and fortitude sometimes feels driven by a youthful energy and uninhibited commitment to their goals. In relation to the original character, the title alludes to the ways in which Eileen, their story, and the film might dismantle preconceived notions of the American West and the stories that unfold in this complex and diverse place.
A note on pronouns
Eileen began using they/them pronouns after editing of the film was completed. In reference to the film, we use they/them to refer to Eileen, and we ask others to do so when writing about the film.
News
CISCO KID will have its North American Premiere at Slamdance 2023!
Dates: January 20-26th in Park City, Utah. We hope to see you there!
CISCO KID was invited to the 26th Ji.hlava IDFF! Opus Bonum Competition.
October 2022 in Jihlava, Czech Republic.
Meet the Filmmakers
Emily Kaye Allen | Director, Cinematographer, Editor
Emily Allen is a photographer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work explores the connection of characters and story to environment and place. She directed and shot the short films 81 Bowery, about Chinese immigrants living in a tenement house in downtown Manhattan, and They Came in Softly: Life in the Shadow of a Mine, about a gold mine in Papua New Guinea and its impact on local highland communities. Cisco Kid is her debut feature film.
Elise McCave | Producer
Elise McCave has been working with documentary filmmakers since 2008. As Kickstarter's Senior Director of Film since 2016, she's worked with film organizations and filmmakers worldwide, providing tailored support and mentorship on fundraising and audience-building for projects in development and production. From 2008-2016 she was Deputy Director of Doc Society (formerly BRITDOC) in London and then in New York, primarily overseeing the Good Pitch program.
Shannon Fitzpatrick | Producer
Shannon Fitzpatrick is a producer and editor working in fiction and documentary films. She completed a Master's in Media Studies at The New School, where she studied cinematic representations of trauma and healing. In addition to Cisco Kid, she is currently producing Softly in all directions, a feature-length documentary that weaves together queer histories of political resistance, imagination, and desire in the shadow of Romania’s communist past, and editing Goldilocks, a 16mm mixed-media narrative short about imagination, wilderness, and growing up in the pre-internet era.