Cowboy documentary opens July 16 at the Ross

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"Sweetgrass," a documentary about Montana cowboys, opens July 16 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Also showing is "Please Give."

Playing through July 22, "Sweetgrass" chronicles the cowboys during the summer of 2003 as they herd sheep through the Beartooth Mountains in Montana. The journey is not easy as the cowboys navigate hundreds of sheep through wind swept, snow covered ridges while shielding the herd and themselves from bears and wolves.

"Sweetgrass," directed by Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, was a selection at the 2009 New York Film Festival.

And continuing at the Ross is "Please Give," a film about the worries of a financially-comfortable, middle class family. "Please Give" plays through July 22.

Kate (Catherine Keener) has a lot on her mind. There's the ethics problem of buying furniture on the cheap at estate sales and marking it up at her trendy Manhattan store. There's the materialism problem of not wanting her teenage daughter to desire the same expensive things Kate wants. There's the marriage problem of sharing a partnership in parenting, business and life with her husband. And there's Kate's problem of how to live well and be a good person when it comes to giving.

As the family mixes with neighbors, each other and their New York surroundings, a mix of animosity, friendship, deception, guilt and love plays out with both sharp humor and pathos.

For more information, including ticket prices and show times, go to http://www.theross.org. or call 472-5353.

More details at: http://www.theross.org