The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World

(Las muertes mas bellas del mundo)
Quique Aviles, Ellie Walton | Documentary, Experimental

2024 | 70 minutes | El Salvador, United States

Portrait of the struggles and humanity of the Salvadoran diaspora through the eyes of artists who made art out of war in Washington DC.

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Synopsis

The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World tells a story of Washington DC’s Salvadoran community - its struggles and humanity - through the eyes of artists of the diaspora who made art out of war as they created a home in the nation’s capital.

The film follows a poet’s journey to find the truth about his family’s past and find healing through his writing of the poem that became the title of the film.

The film interweaves a collection of artist portraits – a photographer, a dancer/choreographer, and several musicians – with a wider group of voices and archival images to tell a compelling and intimate narrative of a community resolving trauma and finding identity, salvation, and joy. At a time when El Salvador and its mega-prisons are much in the news, the film provides important historical context, connecting today’s social and political issues with the past.

Reviews

"The film is truly beautiful and stunningly balances lived experience, personal history, community history, and the emotional worlds of the artists. I was truly moved, and it was clear to me that our audience connected deeply with the subject of the film, no matter their personal backgrounds." — Maren Orchard, DC History Center

"'Las Muertes Mas Bellas del Mundo' fills in gaps that especially happen in migration and through intergenerational trauma because what trauma does is create a hole where history should be. In order to survive, people don’t talk about the history…This film is recalling that history through metaphors, sounds, and feelings and putting an image on what remained unnamed. — Dr. Ana Patricia Rodriguez, Professor, University of Maryland

Citation

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Cataloging

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Keywords
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Clips
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Festivals

AFI Latin American Film Festival; Big Apple Film Festival; Chicago Latino Film Festival - Runner-Up, Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary; Cine Las Americas International Film Festival - Winner Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary; Flickers-Rhode Island International Film Festival; Hispanic International Film Festival; LASA Latin American Studies Association Film Festival; Philadelphia Latino Arts and Film Festival; San Francisco Latino Film Festival/Cine+Mas SF; Seattle Latino Film Festival; FilmFest DC Washington DC International Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Quique Aviles, Ellie Walton

NATIONALITY: El Salvador, United States

YEAR: 2024

GENRE: Documentary, Experimental

LANGUAGE: English; Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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