In the Pit

Colour, 35 mm
Mexico, 2005, 85 min
EP – European premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

The winning film in the World Documentary Competition at this year’s Sundance festival is a compelling chronicle of the days the director spent with several workmen hired for the construction of the second layer of the Periférico freeway in Mexico City. Together with Rulfo, we observe their toil, often in highly risky situations, but also listen to the joking, swearing and philosophising of Shorty, El Grande and other heroes of the ordinary workday. The phenomenon of the ubiquitous yet invisible, constantly changing freeway provides the director with invaluable material for psychological profiles of individuals working in this “compressed” environment. Using a disarmingly natural approach, Rulfo’s film combines civil aspects with elements of mysticism, set against the background of street sounds clunking to the industrial rhythm. In the Pit, another example of the remarkable Mexican documentary school of recent years, proves that an inspired social probe can be filmed with exceptionally creative invention.

About the director

Juan Carlos Rulfo (b. 1964, Mexico City) graduated in communication sciences and later film direction at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. His graduation film, the short Grandfather Cheno and Other Stories (El abuelo Cheno y otras historias, 1994) was nominated for a Student Oscar. Rulfo’s feature-length documentary debut Juan, I Forgot, I Don’t Remember (Del olvido al no me acuerdo, 1999) was screened at many festivals, including Toronto, San Francisco, Havana and Sundance.