''The Devil's Miner'' is a 2005

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by independent film directors

Kief Davidson Kief Davidson (born May 12, 1970) is an American filmmaker. Biography Davidson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short at the 2013 Academy Awards for his work on '' Open Heart'' with Cori Shepherd Stern. Born and raise ...

and

Richard Ladkani Richard Ladkani (born July 21, 1973) is an independent Austrian director and cinematographer known for documentary films such as The Ivory Game and Sea of Shadows. Ladkani has received the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the Cinema ...

. The film follows a fourteen-year-old

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n boy named Basilio Vargas who along with his twelve-year-old brother Bernardino work in the mines near the city of

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

. The film includes many subtle realities of the miner's lives such as the need to chew coca leaves to numb the pain of hunger and the long shifts they work regardless of age. The film made its world premier at the

Rotterdam film festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

and its U.S. debut at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. The film concentrates on the concerns of local workers who have fear of what they call “Tio” or

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. In the film, an elder miner claims that over 8 million people have died in the unsafe mines. The workers believe this is because “Tio” controls the mine and that

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

has no power in the mine. The workers often give offerings such as coca leaves, alcohol, cigarettes and perform

sacrifices Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks ...

, such as slaughtering a llama and applying its blood to the mine entrance to appease a makeshift statue of "Tio". Each mine has its own Tio which all of the workers pray to upon entering so that they may find a good vein of silver and so that they may be granted protection from explosions, toxic gas, silicosis, and falling rocks. The local

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest is unable to tame these fears of “Tio” although the workers often pray at the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

before entering the mine, upon observing the miners attending Mass, the local priest said that when he looked into the face of the miners he "saw Christ dying". The irony which is upon these people is one of great sorrow. They worship both God and the Devil, Light and Dark, The God of the world, and the god of the earthen mine below. As of 2014, Basilio is studying tourism, working in the mines three nights a week, and working as a tour guide in the mines. Bernardino, now married, still works in the mines full-time whilst studying in the evenings. The boys no longer live on the mountain, however their mother remains in the same house.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devils Miner 2005 films Documentary films about mining Documentary films about children Mining in Bolivia Child labour Films shot in Bolivia 2005 documentary films

See also

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