Set in Culiacán, the epicenter of Mexico’s drug war, El Velador (The Night Watchman) follows the quiet and cautious Martin through his shifts at a massive graveyard of fallen capos and their soldiers. Although Natalia Almada’s gentle documentary focuses on the more peaceful moments of the cemetery’s narrative, the undercurrent of violence is omnipresent. Against a backdrop of news reports both innocuous and horrifying, we read between the lines of the extravagant mausoleums—monuments to a disturbing past, present, and future. 2011, DCP, 72 minutes.
The director will be present at the Walker Cinema to introduce her film and take questions from the audience.
El Velador receives its national broadcast premiere on PBS/Twin Cities Public Television on September 30.
