From dusk to dawn El Velador accompanies Martin, the guardian angel who, night after night, watches over the extravagant mausoleums of Mexico's most notorious Drug Lords. In the labyrinth of the narco-cemetery, this film about violence without violence reminds us how, in the turmoil of Mexico's bloodiest conflict since the Revolution, ordinary life persists and quietly defies the dead.

Natalia Almada has poised her camera to film the cemetery where the  mausoleums of the deceased heads of the drug cartels tower over the tombs of their victims. Consciously avoiding shocking images, the director handles the theme of daily violence in Mexico in this very polished and personal film.

Javier Martin, selection commitee