NEON BULL

A wild ride into the colourful world of traditional Brazilian rodeo, rendered with astonishing visuals and pulsing sexual energy.

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and Best Feature at the Adelaide Film Festival, Gabriel Mascaro's (the short film Ebb and Flow, MIFF 2013) follow-up to his acclaimed August Winds takes us inside the world of the vaquejada: the wildly popular rodeo sport involving macho cowboys and their attempts to pull the titular beasts down by their tails.

Amongst a ragtag but close-knit rodeo troupe making a living from this ultra-masculine exhibition, alpha cowboy Iremar secretly dreams of designing couture for exotic dancers, such as Galega, who dances when she's not driving a truck.

Shot with a stunning eye for the country's pastoral beauty by Cemetery of Splendour (MIFF 2015) cinematographer Diego Garcia, Mascaro's film playfully interrogates this slipstream of gender identity and sexual impulse, wrangling an allegory for a changing Brazilian society that's alive with beauty and sensation.

"Mascaro's filmography blends a textured storytelling with anthropological investigation. The newest of them, Neon Bull, offers startling proof of this talent ... Lyrically involving and deeply sensual, [it] showcases a full-bodied artist in command of his form." – Indiewire