Film Archive

Jahr

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International Competition 2022
Filmstill The Invisible Frontier
The Invisible Frontier
Mariana Flores Villalba
On an island paradise in the Pacific, Mexican military personnel are on duty. Nothing happens. And yet they can’t forget the violent reality of their country.
Filmstill The Invisible Frontier

The Invisible Frontier

La frontera invisible
Mariana Flores Villalba
International Competition 2022
Documentary Film
Mexico
2022
84 minutes
Spanish
Subtitles: 
English

On an uninhabited island off the Mexican Pacific coast, members of the army do their uneventful duty. The film watches drills and everyday routines, but mainly the breaks which they spend playing board games in the shade of trees, in hammocks, swimming, flying kites or doing karaoke. The peaceful environment, however, does not hide the violent reality of their country which they are always confronted with, even out here.

In this paradisiacal seeming island landscape, the life marked by gang wars which these young men and women escape for an indeterminate time is visible only in metaphorical images, for example when the calm ocean surges up or when an octopus caught at the beach is slaughtered with bare hands. But in the conversations, the self-descriptions of the military men and women, everything revolves around the reality they grew up in: the brief moment that determines which side you’re on, the constant game of hide-and-seek, kin liability, the cruel consequences of wrong decisions. In her first feature-length documentary film, which is carried by the tension between the visible and the invisible, Mariana Flores Villalba wisely chose not to show the event but its effect.
Christoph Terhechte

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Mariana Flores Villalba
Cinematographer
Claudia Becerril Bulos
Editor
Astrid Rondero, Mariana Flores Villalba
Producer
Carlos Hernández, Gabriela Gavica Marrufo
Co-Producer
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, A.C., Imcine Foprocine
Sound
Eduardo Hernández, Israel Hernández, Adriá Campany, José Luis “Checho” Bravo
Score
Federico Schmucler
Nominated for: Prize of the Interreligious Jury, FIPRESCI Prize
Media Name: bea54262-7004-4494-9234-8014bb262443.jpg

The Still Side

El lado quieto
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Camera Lucida – Out of Competition 2021
Documentary Film
Philippines,
South Korea,
Argentina,
Mexico
2021
70 minutes
Spanish,
English
Subtitles: 
English

The Mexican island of Capaluco was once home to a flourishing holiday resort. Now it is deserted. The tides are chipping away at the ruins of the amusement park and hotel complex. Sensory explorations of the terrain meet tales of a mythical sea monster from the Philippines that ended up here. Beguiling science fiction in the mirror of post-humanist theory.

“Welcome to Capaluco, the only all-inclusive island in the world! A place where fun is guaranteed for the whole family,” echoes from the loudspeakers. Gaudy dolphin sculptures stare into space. A crumbling Nestlé emblem reminds us of the glory days of an out-of-date civilization. Miko Revereza and Carolina Fusilier stage their location as an in-between place where the past reverberates and the future pushes its way in. In the meticulous observation of formations and textures, architecture and nature begin to converge. Is that still the droning of a radio mast or is it the ocean? The two directors speculate from offscreen who will be next to make use of the relics of the human empire in the relay race of the species.
Sarina Lacaf

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Script
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Cinematographer
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier, Mateo Fusilier
Editor
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Producer
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Sound
Miko Revereza
Score
Miko Revereza, Carolina Fusilier
Animation
Carolina Fusilier