The Modern Jungle

As an intimate portrait, The Modern Jungle offers a contemporary glimpse into the lives of indigenous peoples in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. This film features two residents of La Selva Negra. For friends Juan Juarez Rodriguez and Carmen Echavarria Gomez, life is a daily struggle. Despite jealousy from some in their community, Juan and Carmen find solace in living forever through cinema. Their respective stories will not perish, though they shall one day, as we all must. In less capable hands, this story would have been less nuanced, and simply ended in tragedy. These moments of direct cinema may have otherwise ended up on the cutting room floor, but thankfully they were included. As such, this harrowing film doubly serves as an über intriguing ethnographic record of collaboration between filmmaker and subject. (Slamdance Film Festival)