Taking the Face: The Portuguese Bullfight (2008)

Taking The Face explores the phenomenon of the Portuguese bullfight - a world filled with contradiction, passion, faith and cruelty. From the training of Matadors who may never kill in their own country, to the colorful Forcados who charge bulls head-on without weapons, to the costumed Cavaliers and their dancing horses, to bizarre ritual of the Giant Fork and the spectacle of Barrancos - the one brutal exception to the law prohibiting the death of the bull in the arena - the picture follows the Touro Bravo from birth to death while exploring the rising polemic and the animal rights activism against that may signal the tradition's demise.