NEON BULL (BOI NEON) World Cinema

Iremar is a modern-day cowboy working the Brazilian rodeo circuit. He spends his days covered in mud and feces, looking after the bulls and preparing their tails before releasing them onto the Vaquejada track. A recent textile boom is providing new opportunities for people in the region, and Iremar dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer, using his spare time to create elaborate garments for a new clothing line. There’s an intense potency at the heart of this sophomore narrative feature from Gabriel Mascaro (AUGUST WINDS, AFI FEST 2014). As in his previous work, the plotting and dialogue are sparse, here offset by a hypnotic series of images showing modern bullfighters in the arid rodeos of northern Brazil. Fertility and sexuality hum at the edges of the story as we follow a young man subjected to recent economic changes that threaten the cowboy way of life. – Lane Kneedler