Jaripeo + Born at Night
Questions of masculinity, sexuality, and belonging swirl in this vivid documentary that explores Michoacán’s signature “jaripeos,” rural rodeos that also serve as a somewhat secret space for queer cowboys.
This film will be preceded by the short film Born at Night, directed by Alba Cros Pellisè (Spain 2025, 18).
Description
Within the world of bucking broncos and bull rides of the Michoacán jaripeo lurks a partially obscured world where queerness, masculinity, and desire churn together in a generative friction. This evocative documentary carries us on a sensory journey into Central Mexico’s rodeo culture and observes the queer community that embraces and challenges it. Vérité Super 8 footage and expressionistic sequences immerse us in the seen and unseen signals that pass through the cheering crowds like electricity. Co-director Efraín Mojica is among the subjects in this vivid essay that moves deftly between kaleidoscopic portraits of gay men enmeshed in this world and the sport itself. Three main subjects each navigate their gender expression and sexuality within the traditional towns that surround them, while reflecting on how those conservative values have also shaped them. Mojica and co-director Rebecca Zweig deliver this lingering ode to the jaripeo with tenderness and intimacy. —Amber Love
Jaripeo will be preceded by the short film Born at Night, directed by Alba Cros Pellisé (Spain, 18 min).
Over the course of a single night in South Barcelona, two individuals explore desire, gender, and intimacy on their own terms, discovering connection, vulnerability, and the courage to define themselves freely.
Biographies
Efraín Mojica is a photographer, filmmaker, and multidisciplinary artist from the Mexican State of Michoacán and now based in Mexico City. Their work has been shown in galleries in Mexico, Europe, and the United States. They previously made a short film, Libro Color Esperanza (2016). Jaripeo is their first feature.
Rebecca Zweig is a filmmaker and writer who resides in Mexico City. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workship, her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Nation. A Sundance Institute fellow and (Egg)celerator Lab grantee, Jaripeo is her first feature film.
