RICHLAND, Wash.– Deep in the ranchlands of southeast Oregon lays the carcass of a cow in middle age. Its meat, still on the bone and wasted, starts decomposing under a wide-open sky.
Over multiple decades, ranchers in eastern Oregon have been terrorized by a mysterious phenomenon in which cattle belonging to multiple different ranches have been murdered. Their rectums, sexual organs, and tongues, all removed with surgical precision. No signs of predators, and not one drop of blood.
The story found Australian directors Jackson Devereux and Lachlan Hinton as they were looking for a long-form project to serve as their directorial debut. A touring band swung by New York, where the two live, and asked them if they had ever heard about the mutilations.
Devereux and Hinton, in their preliminary research, found Northwest Public Broadcasting’s Senior Correspondent and Special Project Lead Anna King, who had covered the story previously.
“I read it in a little newspaper article, and when I looked at that, I was like, I’ve got to get down there. I’ve got to know what’s going on,” said King.
King grew up on a ranch west of the Cascades but has lived in and covered eastern Washington for 18 years.
“Those [people] are like family to me… I know those people, and I know what it’s like to be made fun of for being a rural person. We wanted to capture the essence of eastern Oregon.”
Devereux and Hinton, who King says held the people skills to get by in an area more remote than any they’d ever experienced, needed a bit of coaching in understanding how such a unique enclave of people live and go about their life. They came into the project with empathetic eyes, not wanting to drum-up conspiracies whatsoever– but whether they were or not, King was going to set them straight.
“She told us… pretty early on, ‘If you guys are going to… make fun of this community, or make some hokey conspiracy documentary…I’m not going to work with you,” said Hinton.
King says she road tested the two once they arrived in Eastern Oregon.
For those interested in seeing the film, viewer discretion is advised. It holds no punches when capturing the lives of cattle farmers and the mystery itself.
Two screenings will be held Oct. 22 at 7 and 7:30 p.m. at Fairchild Cinemas at Queensgate (Richland). Scroll down on this website to find the film and available seating.
