Ella Es El Matador by Celeste Carrasco and Gemma Cubero

What makes a woman want to kill a bull – and risk being killed by one? The documentary Ella Es El Matador, by Celeste Carrasco and Gemma Cubero, follows the paths of two female bullfighters: established matador Mari Paz Vega and aspiring matador Eva Florencia.

We swapped emails with one of the film's directors, Gemma Cubero, and talked about naked bullfighting, feminism and what compelled them to make Ella Es El Matador.

Why bullfighting?

The idea for the film came when Celeste and I were living in San Francisco in 1999. We read in the New York Times that the only known female matador of the 1990’s, Cristina Sánchez, was quitting because other male matadors at the top didn’t want to share top billings.

This sparked our interest and we decided to research what was behind the news. What we found fascinating was to realize that not only Cristina, but also many other women throughout Spain’s history have tried to be matadors but they have been forbidden to do it by law for moral reasons. From this point on we knew we had a powerful, untold story.

Bullfighting is the quintessential symbol of masculinity and bravery in Spanish culture. For us, born and raised in Spain, making this documentary about female matadors means changing this symbol and shifting the gender roles that have been defined for centuries. It has also been a personal journey of exploring and questioning our culture.

What attracted me to the subject matter is the connection that these women have to the animal, their courage and their determination to pursue what they love.

What were your views about bullfighting before you made this film? What were they after?

Neither Celeste nor I liked bullfighting and yes, it was hard at times to watch certain aspects of the bullfight. We were not anti or pro- bullfighting, we simply did not understand it. However, when we started the project we became fascinated with these questions – why would a woman want to be a matador? What do they feel in the ring? Why do they do it? In the last nine years, we have gained tremendous respect for the protagonists of our film. Now we are shocked to find ourselves in the position of wanting to see Maripaz’s future fights!

Did you encounter as much resistance as female filmmakers as the female bullfighters?

Yes, there is a parallel story here. As a first time filmmaker we have also faced great obstacles, had to be determined to move forward despite the obstacles and believe in ourselves. The struggle was less in terms of gender and more in terms of getting funding for a controversial subject matter. In terms of getting access to the bullfighting world, it’s a very closed world and there were many male bullring managers who refused to speak with us about the issue of female matadors.

What's a bigger barrier, being a woman in the sport, or not being wealthy enough to afford fighting?

Both.

You need money to train, to pay for the bulls, for a crew for the suit of lights and for the equipment. You can pay to fight if you have a lot of money, but that is not the way to really become a matador. More important than money is a good manager who opens all the doors. Originally, bullfighting was a way for working class people to climb up the socio-economic ladder with the hopes of being “discovered” by a manager who would nurture their talent. Its not enough to be rich, you have to have the connections.

Bullfighting is a very tough and closed profession for men. One of the biggest barriers for men is having money and a manager that will do the work of promoting and networking well. For a woman, not having money and not having a manager that will believe in her talent becomes a double burden.

If Maripaz Vega could get one of the top Spanish managers to promote her career, she would be fighting with the top matadors.

For a woman is not enough to be in excellent shape physically and mentally to fight, it is not enough to have money, you need to have a manager or apoderado that will believe in your talent and help you open the doors to the main plazas.

Do women in Spain see female bullfighters as feminists?

No, I don’t think so at all. Bullfighting is a passion that you are born with. Very few people have this desire and the determination to pursue it. Women, in particular, face so many barriers that the passion has to be so great. Female bullfighters are seen more as rarities than as feminists.

Once a woman is in the ring and proves herself, women spectators do tend to be more supportive of her and her right to bullfight since they are aware of the barriers they have had to overcome to be in the ring.

Why was Eva Florencia fighting a bull naked at night?

In old times, when apprentice bullfighters wanted to be close to the bull and didn’t have access they would jump fences to dance with the bull in moonlight, simply enjoying being there with the animal. Eva loved this history and had represented this in one of her paintings. It was a renegade act of romance.

It was Eva’s idea during the last shoot when we had almost finished the film. In hindsight we know that she had thought to retire since she had gone through her lowest point in bullfighting, but she hadn’t expressed that yet to us. That last night of our shoot, she told us that she had always had this desire to fight naked under moonlight and asked if we would do it with her.

We agreed and waited a month for the next full moon. She arranged everything and designed a white cape so that it could be seen under the moonlight. We went to the south of Spain and Celeste shot the scene at 3 AM with a small digital camera and no lights. It was a very intimate moment and our role was just to witness her experience. We didn’t even know if it would go into the film, but in the end it was the purest representation of Eva’s connection to nature and the bull. It was the purest representation of her romance and dream. This naked bullfighting under the full moon was the last time that Eva ever fought.

Will bullfighting still exist in 50 years?

In Spain there is a great deal of people who want to stop bullfighting. However, bullfighting is very rooted in our culture and in many other countries such as Portugal, the South of France and Latin America. Also bullfighting has a business component that we cannot ignore. Bullfighting generates about 1.7 billion dollars a year and draws more than 50 million spectators each season. The money-making aspect of this business along with how rooted Bullfighting is in Spain and Latin America make us believe that bullfighting will still be around in 50 years.

Watch Ella Es El Matador online right now on PBS.org through October 2.