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EXCLUSIVE: In Christmastime in Mexico’s state of Michoacán, bull riders, cowboys and crowds of fans assemble for an annual spectacle – the jaripeo, or Mexican rodeo and festival. The men who take part in riding competitions are a rugged, macho lot – the very embodiment, one might say, of ranchero masculinity.
In the shadows of the jaripeo, though, exists a world of queer desire: “fleeting touches, knowing glances, and secretive hookups in the woods behind the rodeo arena.” This “hidden queer subculture” of momentary intimacy is revealed in the documentary Jaripeo, making its world premiere on Sunday in the NEXT section of the Sundance Film Festival.
Efraín Mojica, who grew up between Riverside, CA and Penjamillo, Michoacán – which hosts a jaripeo – directed the documentary with Mexico City-based filmmaker Rebecca Zweig. We have your first look at the film in the trailer below.
Mojica appears in the film alongside two other protagonists – Noé, “a macho and desirable cowboy,” and Joseph, “a flamboyant diva and jaripeo super fan.” Each of them has faced the challenge of navigating their sexuality within that space of community and tradition where an open embrace of queer identity remains somewhat rare.
In an interview with Deadline, Sundance senior programmer Basil Tsiokos called Jaripeo a beautiful film. It “really opens a world into a place, an activity that you just don’t have the privilege of being part of, in this case, the jaripeos, which are like these rodeos often around Christmastime in Mexico,” he told us. “It looks at the sort of interesting queer undercurrent that takes place, at least within the filmmakers’, their experience.”
This marks the feature directorial debut of Mojica (they/them), a photographer and multidisciplinary artist.
“We built a hybrid film that blends observational documentary with lyrical, essayistic elements,” Mojica and Zweig write in a directors’ statement. “It’s as much about the stories of others as it is about how Efraín relates to the place that they come from—the place they invited Rebecca into nearly a decade ago. That tension—between nearness and distance, inside and outside—defines the film’s structure and tone.
“Jaripeo is, at its core, about relation: the way we relate to the self and the subconscious, how our encounters with others can deepen our self-knowledge and theirs, and the way we relate to our home and the revelation and grief embedded in the act of return.”
In addition to Sunday’s world premiere, Jaripeo screens in Park City on Jan. 26, 30, and Feb. 1, and in Salt Lake City on Jan. 27. From Sundance, the film heads to the Berlinale for its international premiere.
Jaripeo is directed by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig and produced by Sarah Strunin. Analía Goethals edited the film. Cinematography is by Josué Eber Morales and Gerardo Guerra; Mojica shot 8mm footage woven throughout the impressionistic film. Composers are Emilia Ezeta and Marton Radics.
Carrie Lozano, Lizzie Gillett, and Ian Bonhôte serve as executive producers.
Watch the trailer for Jaripeo below.
English (US) ·