“Fabulous and ferocious”
— Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
“A phenomenal experience that succeeds in telling the story of this
lucha libre legend. It’s one part celebration of a wrestling icon and one part intimate examination of the sacrifices – physical, mental, and emotional —
that he endured in order to carve his place in history.”
— Jason Brow, Hollywood Life
“Cassandro which recalls the grabbed verve of a ’60s-era verité snapshot, charts the reluctant dimming of this extravagant icon with affectionate
energy and lasting poignance.”
— Robert Abele, The Los Angeles Times
THIS SEPTEMBER, JOIN FILM MOVEMENT FOR A LIVELY DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLING THE “LIBERACE OF LUCHA LIBRE,” THE GENDER-BENDING, TRAILBLAZING
WRESTLING CHAMPION KNOWN AS…
CASSANDRO THE EXOTICO!
Street Date: September 17, 2019
DVD/Digital: $24.95
SYNOPSIS
Less a swan song than a meteor shower rendered in Technicolor, CASSANDRO THE EXOTICO! is a stirring feature portrait of a lucha libre legend in his waning years in the ring. The latest documentary portrait from director Marie Losier, whose 2011 The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jay followed the gender reassignment journey of musician and artist Genesis P-Orridge, puts the spotlight on another, very different gender-bending LGBTQ+ performer.
Famed as much for his flamboyant drag and sky-high pompadour as for his show-stopping kicks and flips, 47-year-old Saul Armendariz — known in the wrestling ring as Cassandro — is a champion “exotico” wrestler, a luchador who performs in drag with generous doses of camp vamping between back-breaking suplexes. His trailblazing ascent as one the industry’s first openly gay wrestlers has resonated internationally for a quarter century — the story of an underdog and a queer icon simultaneously fragile and mighty. Losier captures the moving, at times humorous, and always colorful dualities of this legendary figure with her talent for forging intimacy with a subject while celebrating his individuality broadly. CASSANDRO THE EXOTICO!, shot entirely on 16mm film, follows the “Liberace of the Lucha Libre” in his final years of competition, struggling with opponents and the cruel passage of time, while melding tender encounters and larger-than-life fight scenes into a stylish whole that reflects the vivid textures and hues of a dazzling life in sport.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD/Digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu)
Running Time: 73 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Audio: 2.0 Stereo
Language: English and Spanish with English subtitles
