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"It's a dance, a combination of athleticism and self-expression," says one aficionado. "It takes courage and discipline, but it can provoke in the audience a keener awareness of the joy and the pain of life."

More than one person has caught a similarity between break dancing and the Spanish bullfight. Not an obvious one to many, but it's been brought up enough to warrant attention. B-boying (the real name for "break dancing," also called b-girling when the performer is female) has been featured in Hollywood movies like "Flashdance," "Step-Up" - and now in a beautiful new documentary film called "Planet B-Boy."

The movie premiered last weekend in NY and LA and is coming soon to other U.S. cities. Director Benson Lee's beautiful treatment of the subject leaves audiences misty-eyed and inspired. (Planet B-boy was the country's best-selling art-house premiere last weekend.)

There's nothing like a real documentary - beautifully shot and executed - to prove that subjects oft-treated by Hollywood are far more compelling in real life, when backed up with great cinematography and music.

Matador in the News

Here, a round-up of some recent coverage of "The Matador" - 

 AJ Schnack, Founder, Cinema Eye Awards Review of "The Matador"

Jaman SXSW Recap

Jaman Review

EFilm Critic Interview

Arkansas Democratic Interview

Indiewire Interview

Austin Chronicle Interview

Austin American Statesmen Review

Quantel EQ Case Study

Variety BMI Dinner Photo Gallery

Another Wonderful Thing

The future is here for powerful non-fiction films like "The Matador."

The Cinema Eye Awards blasted onto the scene last night, spotlighting great cinematography and editing. Thanks to founder AJ Schnack for that. For his urge to prove that instead of dry treatises on the "right issues," documentary can be "entertaining..can be artistic...can rival narrative as a filmgoing experience."

Hats off to the awards team - including chair Thom Powers (Toronto Film Festival) and David Nugent (Hamptons International Film Festival) for ushering in a time when well-crafted, emotionally powerful non-fiction films rise to the fore.

The Cinema Eye Award will become a coveted prize during these next, expansive years for documentary film.
Last night's artful winners include Jason Kohn's "Manda Bala" and Alex Gibney's "Taxi to the Dark Side."
Amen to that.

In the interest of full disclosure, we have to mention that AJ has called "The Matador" the "best looking film I saw at SXSW" and "one of the best of this early year" overall.

But we'd love the Cinema Eye Awards anyhow.

Craft rules.

More information:
Check out the Cinema Eye Awards

The Masters of Craft Behind "The Matador"

"The Matador's" raw emotion and power owe much to the finesse of its post-production crew: Editor Ian Rummer, Composer John Califra and Sound Mixer Scott Rhame are masters of their craft.
In these two interviews for realtvfilms.com, they appear with filmmakers Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey to talk about their work.

An Editor Makes It Work: Ian Rummer with Stephen Higgins

Sound to Picture: John Califra and Scott Rhame with Nina Gilden Seavey

Bullfighting, Cloning and the 21st Century: Fascinating Article from Washington Post.

Animal cloning, like bullfighting, has its supporters and detractors.

Here, an article from the Washington Post shows how cloning may someday influence the bullfight.

Seeing Red Over Bid to Clone a Bull

Last chance to see "one of the truly glorious discoveries of SXSW"*

The Matador's final, exciting SXSW screening is this Saturday night at 7 pm.
Foes, friends and even those indifferent to the bullfight have all been deeply moved by the film, which is "one of the truly glorious discoveries" at SXSW.

So get to Austin Convention Center at 7 pm and see for yourself the cinematic experience that is "one of the finest, most emotional documentaries ever shown at SXSW."

*jaman.com

"The Matador" Score Reverberates after SXSW Premier

After its SXSW premiere, praise for the The Matador's cinematography and score continues.
Here, John Califra's score begins what is certain to a be a very long life in hearts of his fans.

From stationinthemetro.com:

The Matador Score
If you were any any of the screenings of The Matador at SXSW this week, you know how amazing the score is. Some of us lucky enough to get to the premiere were also even luckier to get a copy of the CD composer John Califra had made as a special surprise, containing excerpts of the score. The producer encouraged us to “share it with your friends.” Accordingly, here it is, friends.

Go to Station in the Metro to download score