El Mar la Mar

With director J.P. Sniadecki in person

Dirs. J.P. Sniadecki, Joshua Bonnetta. 2017, 94 mins. In Spanish and English with English subtitles. An immersive and enthralling journey through the Sonoran Desert on the U.S.–Mexico border, El Mar la Mar weaves together harrowing oral histories from the area with hand-processed 16mm images of flora, fauna, and items left behind by those seeking a better life. Subjects speak of intense, mythic experiences in the desert: A man tells of a fifteen-foot-tall monster said to haunt the region, while a border patrolman spins a similarly bizarre tale of man versus beast. A sonically rich soundtrack adds to the eerie atmosphere as the call of birds and other nocturnal noises invisibly populate the austere landscape. Omnivorous artists J.P. Sniadecki (The Iron Ministry, Foreign Parts) and Joshua Bonnetta have created a singular document of the border, rich in visual and aural texture and deliberately spare of cliches that prevent us from seeing and hearing what actually happens on this unyielding terrain. A Cinema Guild release.

“One of the top 10 films of 2017. Cinema and landscape come together as sites of inscription marked by an encounter between the human and nonhuman.”—Erika Balsam, Artforum

Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

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