Aconite Productions and Syndicado Film Sales have announced the World Premiere of The Boy & the Suit of Lights at Sheffield Documentary Film Festival on Friday 14 June, 8:15pm and will screen in the International First Feature Competition.
Filmed and carefully crafted and composed over the course of five years, the film follows Borja, a young boy growing up in Castellon, a small town in Spain, where the tradition of bullfighting weighs heavily on his shoulders. His grandad, Matias, pins his own unfulfilled dreams of becoming a professional bullfighter onto his grandchild with the hopes that it will get the family out of poverty.
Like most underprivileged kids feeling trapped in a life with little choices and opportunities, Borja doesn’t see a future beyond orange fields, fishing and bullfighting.
Director Inma De Reyes said: “The Boy and the Suit of Lights was filmed in my hometown, a small, traditional place on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. I started following Borja and his brother Erik six years ago, when a local newspaper claimed that we lived in Spain's ‘bullfighting capital’. This was surprising for me to hear. Until then, I had never witnessed a bullfight and I was completely oblivious to the aspirations of this world and its practice, other than the stories we have heard from the past.
"I started asking myself questions, such as ‘How alive is this tradition today?’ and ‘How are bullfighters made?’ When I started to explore the folklore surrounding it, I discovered there was a free School of Bullfighting where children would come and train weekly. When I met Borja, I began exploring the question of ‘Why would a family put their child in front of a bull? ’Instead of focusing on tradition, I used it as the backdrop to capture the complexity of an environment in which the romantic idea of tradition battled with the realities of a world making progress. On the face of this story is a vulnerable child growing up with his grandfather's dream as his, while he confronts and questions his place in the world as a son, a brother and an individual.
"I could see in young Borja’s expressive eyes that he felt a sense of pressure from his family that did not match well with his personality. I have seen him grow into a young adult in front of the camera. I have felt every moment as he has, knowing that his purpose was given to him from birth, and yet his heart was struggling to make sense of the world with the love for his mother and younger brother Erik. In my film, I wanted to reflect the reality as Borja felt it, capturing the gentle passing of time in a timeless coming-of-age story.”
Aimara Reques at Aconite Productions said: “Aconite Productions is proud to support and present Inma de Reyes’ ‘The Boy and the Suit of Lights’ at Sheffield DocFest 2024. We met Inma at Sheffield DocFest 2018 where she was premiering her graduation film ‘To Be a Torero’. We are delighted to return to the Festival with Inma’s debut feature documentary.
"We are deeply grateful to our team and our financing partners, Screen Scotland, Chicken and Egg, Rustic Canyon as well as Women Make Movies for their invaluable contribution and support to making this special project happen.”