In northern Colombia there is a popular version of the Spanish bullfight: the ‘corraleja’, an overcrowded spectacle where the most prestigious cattlemen of the region choose their wildest bulls to confront a group of brave voluntary men. As the brass bands start to play and the fireworks fuel the tempers, we follow one of these ranchers while he orchestrates the festivity, and discover behind him a whole society as it surrenders to the excesses of the celebration.

Before long the party reveals the theatrics of an established social order in permanent confrontation, intensified by a collective delirium which seems to overcome all conscience. Through the images and sounds of this boiling stage, the film slowly immerses us into the wild, into the primitive, into the dark shadows of mankind; all of this to remind us –behind the noise, the sweat and the blood– the arrogance and vulnerability of our human nature.

Dir. Juan Camilo Olmos Feris - 29min - 2019 - Colombia

"Blood is shed, but the violence also binds the community together." - The Guardian

World Premiere IDFA, Amsterdam 2019
Best Documentary Short, Havana Film Festival 2019