top of page
TROPIC OF CANCER
“A film as simple and direct as it is powerful, Tropic of Cancer renews the very promise of documentary, reminding us that an engagement with reality can be a revelatory act.”
—Dennis Lim
Synopsis
Dir. Eugenio Polgovsky. Mexico, 2004. 52 min
Polgovsky’s debut immerses the viewer in the precarious lives of families dwelling in the arid desert region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. They survive by hunting and gathering in order to sell plants and animals to motorists by the side of a thunderous superhighway that leads to the United States. Through handheld images of searing potency, this film crafts an intimate, near-wordless visual essay on the human capacity to survive in the most adverse circumstances.
bottom of page