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The Night Watchman
The Night Watchman
6.5
/10
95 Ratings

THE NIGHT WATCHMAN

El velador

Directed by Natalia Almada
Mexico, United States, 2011
Documentary

Synopsis

From dusk to dawn El Velador accompanies Martin, the guardian angel who each night watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico’s most notorious Drug Lords. In the turmoil of Mexico’s bloodiest conflict since the Revolution, ordinary life persists and quietly defies the dead.

Synopsis

From dusk to dawn El Velador accompanies Martin, the guardian angel who each night watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico’s most notorious Drug Lords. In the turmoil of Mexico’s bloodiest conflict since the Revolution, ordinary life persists and quietly defies the dead.

Our take

A quietly composed documentary from filmmaker Natalia Almada, The Night Watchman was shot entirely in the confines of Mexico’s drug heartland. Almada’s film elaborates on modern-day violence, the power of an ordinary life, and the fragile boundaries between victim and perpetrator.