River of Toads (Río de Sapos)
Qumra Projects
/ Feature Documentary or Essay / Mexico, Qatar
In Spanish
Rated: This film has not been rated.
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Synopsis
A sensorial portrait that follows the traditional healer Francisca Hernandez, an inhabitant of a small town in Veracruz, Mexico. She belongs to a family of healers, midwives and exorcists, who celebrate a ritual every year on the first Friday of March, dedicated to Holy Death. The inhabitants of the town say that on that date, at midnight, an energy portal opens where the forces of good and evil collide, and the ideal energy for various types of physical and spiritual healing is released.
This celebration takes place for 24 continuous hours in the Owl Charm Temple, built by Francisca and her family, in the middle of a nearby mountain. Various indigenous and peasant communities arrive there to celebrate the ritual every year. This place becomes a meeting point where food, conversations, and problems are shared, people sing and dance, the body is healed, and the soul is cleansed. The documentary mixes the experience of the ceremonies with an exploration of the magical realism of the territory, which preserves particular traditions and ways of life, where interaction with nature, myths and legends are part of deep Mexico.