7 pm

There is a long and surprising history of women fighting in the Spanish bullring—and fighting to have the chance to do so. Maripaz Vega, a Spaniard, is currently the world’s only professional female matador and is on the verge of achieving top ranking. Eva Florencia, a young runaway from Italy, is a neophyte driven by a childhood dream. Both women must deal with the legacies of sexism in Spanish bullfighting, yet the passions that propel them are similar to those of male bullfighters—a drive to express themselves in a grand and peculiarly Spanish rite that is at once sport, dance, theatre, and blood ritual. Through interviews shot in vérité style interspersed with archival footage, the film offers a window on the highly choreographed and deadly match between bull and human that remains enormously popular in Spain, even as it is reviled by many in an age of animal rights. Presented in partnership with New Mexico PBS as part of the Bank of America Free Thursday Film Series.

2009; Gemma Cubero & Celeste Carrasco; English; 60 minutes; not rated.
Free ticketed event; tickets available one hour before show