If you've wandered the streets of Miami with your eyes open (and hopefully you have, because these drivers murderous), you've undoubtedly seen the abundant advertisements for Miami International Film Festival plastered among bus stops and roaming taxis.
If you have, you'll also recognize the face of MIFF 2014 as an old Cuban man, scarred and tired, immediately human and powerful in its straightforward honesty. The irony is, the face is a still from the short-film C#ckfight, directed by New Times Mastermind Julian Yuri Rodriguez, 25, and it's not even showing at MIFF - but it is showing online, right now.
Here's the aww moment: That face belongs to Rodriguez's real-life grandfather. It's pretty cool to see your grandpa, a true Miami resident, making cameos all over the city, right? Things take a strange turn when you watch the actual flick though, which, fair warning, is not your average rooster throw-down.
In Cuban culture, there's an understanding that a man who bangs another man can make it through the sexual act, and as long as he's "on top," it's accepted that he's not necessarily "gay." In the 9-minute-30-second film, Rodriguez explores these complicated ideas about sexuality, masculinity, and violence, using the beloved past-time of cockfighting as metaphor.
The film is graphic in nature without being explicit. It's beautifully shot and certainly touching, and it's streaming on Vimeo for your pleasure (or something like that). Trust us, this is the classiest and most high-brow use of the term "rapedog" you've ever or will ever witness.
Visit miamiinternationalfilmfestival.com to see the short film.
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