Drought
Director: Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Screenplay: Everardo González Cinematographers: Everardo González, Eduardo Herrera Editors: Felipe Gómez, Clementina Mantellini Music: Cantos cardenches
“In order to have a piece of land, you must suffer,” laments an old man in this poetic cinema verité film of a cattle-ranching community in Coahuila in northeastern Mexico. each year, the families must make an exodus during the dry season in search of water. During this time of exile, men and women, old and young await the first rains so that they can return to their lands. Stunningly photographed and delicately paced, Cuates de Australia is a frank, poignant portrait of a way of life on the verge of extinction.
González’s feature transcends the genre of ethnography; he has shaped his eye-opening chronicle with a powerful aesthetic sensibility.
Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
“En orden para tener un pedazo de tierra, se tiene que sufrir,” se lamenta un anciano en esta poética cinta de una comunidad ranchera en Coahuila, en el norte de México. Cada años, familias deben realizar un éxodo durante la época de sequía en busca de agua. Durante este tiempo de exilio, hombres y mujeres, ancianos y niños, esperan las primeras gotas de lluvia para que puedan regresar a sus tierras. Con una fotografía fascinante y pausada, Cuates de Australia es un franco retrato de un estilo de vida que está a punto de desaparecer.
Everardo González was born in 1971. He won the Silver Ariel for Best Cinematography for El traspatio. His previous documentaries, Los ladrones viejos and El cielo abierto, screened at VLAFF and both have won numerous awards. Cuates de Australia won Best Documentary at the Guadalajara and Los Angeles Film Festivals.