By Carolina Sculti // Feb. 10, 2026
Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s feature hybrid documentary ‘Jaripeo’—a journey into Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos and their hidden queer subculture—will be screening from February 18th to 22nd at this year’s Berlinale. The film follows Mojica into the annual rodeo, known as jaripeo, which is held every Christmas in Penjamillo, a small town outside Michoacán. The event draws both locals and migrants returning from the U.S., celebrating the traditional Michoacán cowboy and creating an atmosphere of nostalgia—while serving as a grand reminder of “what it means to be a man” in rural Mexican society. Beneath the rodeo’s spectacle lies its subconscious pulse: fleeting touches, knowing glances and secretive hookups in the woods behind the arena.
Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig: ‘Jaripeo,’ 2026, film still // Courtesy of the artist
Produced through a blend of Super 8 footage, stylized memory and raw vérité, the film moves between the narrators’ present-day journey and repeated descents into subconscious queer desire, memory and longing. Against the backdrop of the hills and valleys of Michoacán, Mojica and Zweig construct intimate portraits of queer rancheros sharing their memories and confidences through calm conversation. These are interwoven between vivid, stylized dreamscapes that surface past experiences and celebrate queer self-expression, desire and belonging.
Mojica, who grew up partly in Penjamillo, partly in Riverside, California, guides us through his world, reckoning with the grief, revelation and beauty in returning to a home left behind. Mojica meets two other protagonists at the jaripeo: Noé, a macho and desirable cowboy who, though out to some members of his family, still lives mostly in secret. And Joseph, a flamboyant diva and jaripeo super fan, who is a beloved pillar of his community. The film follows Mojica on his journey to piece together the self, while his encounters with Noé and Joseph deepen our understanding of their lives.
Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig: ‘Jaripeo,’ 2026, film still // Courtesy of the artist
For Mojica, the film is as much about his relation to these stories as it is about his relation to the place of their origin, capturing a tension between nearness and distance, inside and outside, defining the structure and tone of the film. At the core of ‘Jaripeo’ are questions of relation: asking how we relate to ourselves and the collective subconscious, how our encounters with others deepen our self-knowledge and how the act of return transforms our relationship to home.
Screening Info
Berlinale 2026
Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig: ‘Jaripeo’
Screenings: Feb. 18–22, 2026
berlinale.de/…/202608887
Various Cinemas
