Cowboy and Indian

The scouts

Owen's refusal to mythologize these painters—two guys just making work and music together—is quietly subversive; most docs would've wrapped this in identity politics or artist-genius hagiography, but instead we get something messier and more honest.

A masterclass in observational documentary form from the NFB's golden era: Owen lets the friendship breathe through unforced moments and lets painting-as-practice ground the narrative in something tactile and real, situating itself squarely in the tradition of cinema-vérité's best impulses.

The decision to hold on Markle and Rayner's hands while they work—paint, play, teach—does all the heavy lifting; Owen understood that watching someone *make* is more intimate than any interview, and that choice transforms a simple portrait into something genuinely alive.