El Toro2010

"El Toro" is a manipulation of light and color from footage that I filmed mostly in Spain. Half of it gazes at the horrifying blood sport of bullfighting, and the other half focuses on Catholic imagery at the heart of Spanish culture. Later inspired by a sort of literary travelogue called 'Spain' by the Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis whose words preface the film, I began to explore connections between the ancient ritual of bullfighting, and the passion of the Christ. Using an expanded visual style to articulate this violent harmony, the work aims to evince our worse nature of brutality, consummated in history's most sanctified moment of cruelty against a man, continuing in this sacramental blood sport which humanity might someday transcend. The debut film of H. Paul Moon, "El Toro" premiered at the Rosebud Film Festival in 2010, winning "Best in Show," and received the WPA Experimental Media Prize in 2011 at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. The music was composed by R. Luke DuBois.