BRIMSTONE AND GLORY

Tultepec, Mexico, is home to a one-of-a-kind festival: the National Pyrotechnic Festival, a celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of fireworks makers. Fireworks are deeply rooted in Mexican tradition, and Tultepec celebrates them like nowhere else, with a parade of giant bulls, fragile building-sized sca olds and great showers of sparks lighting up the night sky. There’s plenty of danger and accidents are common, but no one in Tultepec would miss it for the world. Viktor Jakovleski’s film is a sensual, immersive document of an event where adrenaline trumps fear. The breathtaking images are supported by superb editing and music by the team behind Beast of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012).