Project Detail

Little Matador

Synopsis

Little Matador is a feature length documentary about children bullfighters in Mexico. Kids as young as eight are trained to kill bulls ten times their weight. The film follows three children who are fighting not just the bull but their own demons;

Michelito is ten. The adored child of a matador Dad, Michelito has killed over two hundred bulls. ‘Picasso was born to paint, Mozart to make music – and Michelito to be a matador,’ says Dad. Can Michelito fulfil his father’s dream to become the youngest matador in history?

Joel is nine. Neglected by his mum and step-father, he finds paternal love in the ring. Matador Ismael becomes Joel’s surrogate father and guardian angel. But if Ismael moves to Spain for his own career, what will happen to Joel?

Andrea is twelve. She started bullfighting when her father moved to America. Andrea has disowned her dad – who has found a new woman - and vows to save her mum from poverty by becoming a superstar bullfighter. But will Andrea ever get over her terrible nerves every time she enters the ring?

Little Matador is an extraordinary testimony to the lengths these kids will go to realise their dream.

Details

Year: 2010
Type of project: Features
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Sandra Jordan, Gabriel Range 1st Feature
Producer: Ed Guiney
Co-Producer: Ed Guiney
Director of Photography: Graham Smith
Sound: Alan M O' Duffy

Genre

Northern Irish Sport Woman Director

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Altered Image

14 Newburgh Street
London W1F 7RT
UK

T +44 (0)207 287 5410

www.boroughfilms.com

Element Pictures

21 Mespil Road
Dublin 4
Ireland

T +353 1618 5032

www.elementpictures.ie

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Kevin and Cassandra are a married couple who have lost their only daughter Hannah in a freak car accident. They both raised her differently. Kevin had been a traditional parent, Cassandra a permissive one. While Hannah had decided to exhibit her body and mind online, she cut adrift from her father and gravitates towards her mother. Her death drove a wedge between them. Their lounge becomes a battlefield where incendiary words and spiteful things are said. Their marriage is one where opposites no longer attract. Kevin is filled with loathing for his in-laws, his daughter’s boyfriend, himself. Cassandra wears her daughter’s favorite colours with pride and exhibits her painting on the walls. Kevin finds he is powerless in his home and Cassandra mocks the fact that it was her father who bought it. And when he finally leaves it, he leaves Cassandra forever.

Black Drama