Cassandro

The Mexican superstar Gael García Bernal delivers one of his very best performances in the biographical feature film about the amateur wrestler Saúl Armendáriz, who, with his exótico character Cassandro, turned the popular wrestling sport of Lucha Libre upside down.

In a sport with strict traditions and predetermined winners, exóticos were at the very bottom of the hierarchy. They were unmasked, often displayed feminine traits, were mostly hated by most, and were meant to lose all their matches. With Cassandro, Armendáriz completely flipped the position of this underdog in the ring. And all of this as an openly gay man, in a very overtly homophobic macho culture. Suddenly, he became a beloved winner, traveling the world for events after his national success. Outside the roars of the ring, in the film, we meet a Cassandro trying to balance his own challenges between a mother he wants the best for and a secret, married lover who doesn't make life easy for the luchador.

«Bernal is a blast both in and out of the ring in this look at the life of exótico Saúl Armendáriz»
– Collider –

Lasse Skagen

Director

Roger Ross Williams (b. 1973) is an American producer and director with extensive experience in documentary filmmaking. His first short film, Music by Prudence (2010), won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subjects. Since then, he has directed several critically acclaimed documentary films, including God Loves Uganda (2013), Life, Animated (2016), and The Apollo (2019). His latest fiction film, Cassandro, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2023.

This film is part of