Films A-Z
Add screening to my calendar:
Below Sea Level
Below Sea Level
Gianfranco Rosi / USA, Italy / 2008 / 115 min.
The Californian desert just a few kilometres from the Mexican border is home to people who have left their pasts behind and started new lives in a place without either running water or electricity. They live in buses, caravans and tents and spend their days and nights as they please: reading, writing songs, improving their dwellings, working, making love, or just playing with their dogs. This documentary focuses on four years in the lives of seven residents of this desert settlement: two heterosexual couples, two men and one transsexual. Director and cameraman Gianfranco Rosi gets extremely close to them, allowing us in turn an intimate view of their daily lives. During unguarded moments we see beneath the crust of their reserve, learning of their secrets, desires, sorrows and delights. Impressive camera work and the depth of the protagonists' words make this a bewitching film. The desert settlement, at first sight so different from urban Californian life, can seem repugnant, though at the same time its structure is close to that of the residents' feelings. The documentary won Best Film at last year's One World film festival.
» Film