Film Schedule & Descriptions:
El Equipo
(Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2023, 80 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
Working with a trove of archival materials spanning four decades and unfolding as part procedural, part true crime thriller, El Equipo chronicles the history-making collaboration between Dr. Clyde Snow, a legendary forensic scientist originally from Texas, and a group of Argentine university students, who were dubbed "unlikely forensic sleuths" by The New York Times. With an unprecedented access to the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and its archives, the fifth feature film by director Bernardo Ruiz offers a welcome twist to the traditional true crime film by focusing on systemic political and human rights abuses rather than on one-off tales of murder or lone serial killers, and deftly creates a direct link between state atrocities from the past and present.
Saturday, November 1, 6:30pm at Museum of the Moving Image
Reportero
(Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico, 2012, 72 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Bernardo Ruiz's acclaimed debut feature Reportero follows veteran reporter Sergio Haro and his colleagues at Semanario Zeta, a Tijuana-based muckraking weekly, as they persist in their work in one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. Since the paper’s founding in 1980, two editors have been murdered and the founder viciously attacked. Former editor Francisco Ortiz was gunned down just after buckling his two children into the back seat of his car, killed for printing the names and faces of drug traffickers who had long operated with impunity. Gripping and timely, Reportero confronts the violence, corruption, and power struggles along the border. As the drug war intensifies and the threats to journalists grow, the film asks a pressing question: will the free press be silenced?
Wednesday, November 5, 7pm at Firehouse: DCTV's Cinema for Documentary Film
The Infinite Race
(Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico, 2020, 70 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
The Infinite Race follows an annual marathon in Mexico’s Copper Canyon, where the indigenous Rarámuri—renowned for their endurance—compete in a grueling long-distance race. Founded in 2004, the event honors Rarámuri traditions and supports the community, including essential corn vouchers. With stunning cinematography and intimate access to the runners, the film explores tensions beneath the race: cultural appropriation, economic pressures, and the threat of drug cartels. When violence threatens the next race, the complexities of the organizers and the global spotlight come into focus. Amid these challenges, the film offers a vivid portrait of a resilient people whose connection to land and tradition endures—race or no race, the Rarámuri continue to run.
Monday, November 10 at CUNY Graduate Center
Harvest Season
(Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2018, 83 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
Harvest Season delves into the lives of the people who make California's premium wine possible, following Mexican-American winemakers and migrant workers whose labor is essential yet often overlooked. Set against one of the most dramatic grape harvests in recent memory, the film immerses viewers in the rhythms and challenges of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, where wildfires, a growing labor shortage, shifting immigration policies, and climate change threaten livelihoods. Through the stories of three individuals deeply rooted in the craft, director Bernardo Ruiz captures the intimacy, dedication, and resilience behind every vine and vintage, offering a lush and immersive portrait of an industry—and the people—at the heart of it.
Friday, November 21 at the Maysles Documentary Center
Kingdom of Shadows
(Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2015, In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war, weaving together the stories of a U.S. drug enforcement agent on the border, an activist nun in violence- scarred Monterrey, Mexico, and a former Texas smuggler, to reveal the human side of an often misunderstood conflict that has resulted in a growing human-rights crisis that only recently has made international headlines.
Monday, November 24 at Espacio de Culturas at New York University
