By Gemma Cubero and Celeste Carrasco
For Spaniards¡ªand for the world¡ªnothing has expressed the country's traditionally rigid gender roles more powerfully than the image of the male matador. So sacred was the bullfighter's masculinity to Spanish identity that a 1908 law barred women from the sport.
ELLA ES EL MATADOR (SHE IS THE MATADOR) reveals the surprising history of the women who made such a law necessary, and offers fascinating profiles of two female matadors currently in the arena, the acclaimed Maripaz Vega and neophyte Eva Florencia. These women are gender pioneers by necessity, confronting both bull and social code. But what emerges in the film as their truest motivation is their sheer passion¡ªfor bullfighting, and in their pursuit of a dream.
Reviews
~ "Blends history with up-to-the-minute profiles¡. A universal saga." - Michael Fox, SF360 (San Francisco Film Society)
~ "It's impossible not to immerse yourself in the action." - Sarah Godfrey, Washington City Paper
~ "Beautiful¡ªwatching it, I had an incredible sense of the two women not only as devoted athletes and trailblazers, but also as people who are passionate about an art that is significant in Spanish culture." - Anna Pinkert, Still Indie
~ "Demonstrates poignantly the difficulty that women matadors face when trying to break in and succeed in the masculinized sport of bullfighting." - Sandie Holguin, Associate Professor Spanish /European History, University of Oklahoma
Award
~ Tribeca All Access, Creative Promise Award
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