Tropic of Cancer

In the arid desert of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, located on the Tropic of Cancer, various families eke out a hardscrabble existence by hunting and gathering and then selling some of their wares by the side of Highway 57, the country’s most important trade route. These families live as in prehistoric times in perilous conditions among the cactuses. Under the scorching sun, they use homemade traps and weapons to catch birds, rodents, tortoises and poisonous snakes. Their primary worry is starvation. They eat most of what they catch but offer other flora and fauna to rich car owners along the interstate. Director Eugenio Polgovsky Ezcurra’s unique visual style and sound design lend additional poignance to this account of a lost way of life crossing paths with modern tourism. Best Documentary, Morelia Film Festival. —Chicago International Film Festival