Jaripeo

😁 Jaripeo, dir. Efraín Mojica & Rebecca Zweig, 2026, Mexico/‌France/‌USA, 71 min., in Spanish with English subtitles, with some English
Saturday, June 20, 2026, 3:30 PM, Castro Theatre

Jaripeo

Frameline blurb: If you travel at Christmastime to the central Mexican town of Penjamillo, in Michoacán, you will encounter its age-old emblem of hypermasculine cowboy culture: the rodeo, or as it is known there, jaripeo. Locals and returning migrants from the U.S. flock into the beer-soaked stands, cheer and gasp at daredevil riders in the dusty rodeo ring, and celebrate this annual rite of machismo that has for generations defined masculinity in this part of Mexico, and beyond.

But as this extraordinary and artistically striking documentary reveals, there is a hidden side to the jaripeo that few know: a private language of furtive glances, hookups in the nearby woods, and long-standing double lives that manage both to defy and honor the region’s beloved cowboy mythology. Only a trusted insider could gain access to this subculture; so it’s a gift that co-director Efraín Mojica — a queer man from Penjamillo now living in Southern California — can act as both subject and interlocutor, introducing us to handsome cowboy Noé, outrageous fan Joseph, and taking us on his own dreamlike journey of memory and self-discovery.

My take: I can honestly say this is a subculture I knew nothing about. The openness of the gay people in the jaripeo lags decades behind big cities in the United States, but it is certainly not zero. The adaptations they have been able to make are fascinating, in several cases being open about it, as long as they don’t cross a few remaining red lines. If you’re a rodeo fan, this film is a must see, but even if you’re not, I’d still say highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • YouTube channel: @JaripeoDocumentary • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • Wikipedia • Efrain Mojica, Michoacan •