The Nightwatchman (El Velador)

Natalia Almada’s hypnotic and unsettling documentary uses stately, atmospheric cinematography to illuminate a dark corner of Mexican culture, the rapidly expanding El Jardin Cemetery. From dusk to dawn The Nightwatchman, ‘El Velador” accompanies Martin, the guardian angel whom, night after night, watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico’s most notorious Drug Lords. In the labyrinth of the cemetery, this film about violence without violence reminds us how, in the turmoil of Mexico’s bloodiest conflict since the Revolution, ordinary life persists and quietly defies the dead.