"I Want to See Blood": Documentary Brings Border Wrestling to Cinema

A new documentary, "Quiero ver sangre" (I Want to See Blood), is bringing the vibrant world of border wrestling to the cinema, challenging the typical cinematic portrayal of the U.S.-Mexico border as solely a place of violence and sadness. Directed by Ramiro Medina Flores, the film recently secured the award for Best Film at the Cine al Margen festival and is set to screen in other festivals across Chihuahua and San Luis Potosí, while also pursuing a commercial release. The documentary features testimonials from well-known wrestlers like Sangre Chicana, as well as others such as Tritón. Medina Flores, who grew up in the border region of Laredo, was inspired to combine his love for wrestling and cinema. "The border is a region with a very particular resonance and powerful elements like wrestling, which I saw from the age of three, around '86, that is, from the last century (laughs), and at the same age I saw cinema, so it was combining the two things I love most," he commented. He added, "They are both arts and human expressions that have always fascinated me. I left living there years ago and now I seek to generate stories to give visibility to the border beyond what is traditionally thought and seen." "Quiero ver sangre" is an independent, self-funded production with a small team of about ten members. It joins a recent resurgence of wrestling-themed films, including the fiction "El Halcón" and the documentary "Demonios en el ring." According to the book "¡Quiero ver sangre!, Historia ilustrada del cine de luchadores," over 200 wrestling films have been produced in Mexico since 1938. Filming for Medina Flores' documentary began in 2015 and concluded a decade later. "It's a choral portrait and takes many voices. I believe there is a rebirth in wrestling cinema; there is alternative art, encyclopedias, exhibitions. The fact that WWE bought AAA (a Mexican wrestling company) gives resonance to all of this," Medina Flores stated.

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I Want to See Blood