The Devil's Miner

Infobox Film
name = The Devil's Miner


caption = Promotional poster for "The Devils Miner"
director = Kief Davidson
Richard Ladkani
producer = Kief Davidson
Richard Ladkani
writer = Kief Davidson
Richard Ladkani
starring = Basilio Vargas
The miners of Cerro Rico
distributor = Cinema Delicatessen (theatrical)
First Run Features (theatrical)
YLE Teema (TV)
released = November 30 2005
language = Spanish/English
imdb_id = 0441001

The Devil's Miner is a documentary film directed by independent film directors Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani. The film follows a fourteen year old Bolivian boy named Basilio Vargas who along with his twelve year old brother Bernardino work in the mines near the city of Potosí. The film made its world premier at the Rotterdam film festival and its U.S. debut at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The film concentrates on the concerns of local workers who have fear of what they call “Tio” or devil. The film claims that over 8 million people over a period of time have died in the unsafe mines. The workers believe this is because “Tio” controls the mine and that Christ has no power in the mine. The workers often give offerings and perform sacrifices to a makeshift statue of "Tio". The local Catholic priest is unable to tame these fears of “Tio” although the workers often pray at the church before entering the mine.

External links

* [http://www.thedevilsminer.com/index_new.html Official Site]
*imdb title|0441001|The Devil's Miner