Deep in My Heart is a Song
2024 · 16m · USA
Directed by Jonathan Pickett
Genres: drama, musical, western
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
An aging cowboy singer struggling to make ends meet receives an unusual private gig: performing for a dying woman who loves country music. Based on the real life of 75-year-old cowboy musician Johnny Bencomo, who co-wrote the screenplay and plays himself alongside professional actors.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Real cowboy singer co-writing and playing himself on 16mm in Tombstone for a dying-woman gig — docufiction with this much lived-in casting can sidestep its own sentimentality. Cautiously charmed.
Docufiction with Johnny Bencomo playing himself, shot on 16mm in Tombstone — Chloé Zhao's The Rider is the natural touchstone, and Lindsay Burdge brings indie-cinema credibility. The hybrid form remains one of contemporary cinema's most generative spaces.
Sixteen minutes on 16mm in Tombstone with 75-year-old cowboy Johnny Bencomo co-writing and playing himself opposite Lindsay Burdge — that hybrid docufiction approach where the subject co-authors the script is the move, and 66K views says the warmth is reading. The cinematographer credit confirms this is shot like a film, not a portrait.
Reviews
A poetic and relatable tale that weaves the quiet power of music into human connections — poignant and heartwarming.
A delicate, contemplative post-western that condenses an effective story in a remarkably synthetic manner.
Festivals
- Cleveland International Film Festival
- Florida Film Festival
- Palm Springs International ShortFest
- SCAD Savannah Film Festival
- Sidewalk Film Festival
- Bend Film Festival
- Montclair Film Festival
- HollyShorts, Best Shot on 16mm Film
- Coronado Island Film Festival, Audience Award
- IFF Boston, Audience Award, Special Jury Prize
- Nevada City Film Festival, Heart of Gold Award
- Ashland Film Festival, Best Narrative Short
- Prescott Film Festival, Best Narrative Short
- Round Top Film Festival, Best Narrative Short
- Malescorto Festival 2025, Gran Premio Malescorto
- Newport Beach Film Festival