In the Tumult of the Street

Death and life dance together in this poetic short filmed in the streets of Mexico City. It is the fall of 2017, 32 years after the 1985 earthquake. While cracked buildings testify to the violence of a new quake, preparations for the Day of the Dead are in full swing. Flowers, music and masks come out to combat despair and fear. In grainy images in which reality becomes ghostly and ghosts come to life, Étienne Lacelle’s keen eye captures fleeting moments in the streets, markets and squares, embodying the chance encounter of the two sides of existence. Amidst a joyful atmosphere, the dead are not forgotten. To the contrary, the celebration is a stand against the fragility of fate.