Coast of Death
Description
The coast of death lies on Spain’s Galician coast and is aptly named so for its treacherous waters that have extinguished lives and wrecked ships. The still frames of Lois Patiño’s documentary give one the luxury of contemplation of this storied place, of noticing the shifts in cloud formations or the differences in height between the ceaseless crashing of waves against the rocks as the small figures of people shield themselves against the force of the oncoming water. Coast of Death does not argue, in a series of close-ups, that the human face is a landscape itself. On the contrary, Patiño edits together extreme wide-shots in which people frequently appear as small parts of the landscape; as parts of a greater whole. But, aurally they are given precedence, as their voices ring clear, no matter how indistinguishable and far off their bodies are from the camera. Although Patiño touches on the tempestuous relationship between people (and people’s machines) and nature, with each side being able to scar the other, this is not a film with a political or environmental agenda. Coast of Death refuses reductive polemics in favor of being nobly expansive in its presentation of a specific topographic point. –Veronika Ferdman
Lois Patiño was born in Vigo, Spain, in 1983. He studied psychology and film in his homeland before moving to New York to expand his cinematic education at the New York Film Academy. While his work has been exhibited at art centers around the world, Coast of Death is his first feature-length documentary. Premiering at the 2013 Locarno Film Festival, Coast of Death earned Patiño the festival’s Best Emerging Director award.
Film Details
Language Galician, Spanish
Year 2013
Premiere San Fran Bay Area
Runtime 81
Country Spain
Director Lois Patiño
Producer Felipe Lage Coro, Martin Pawley
Editor Lois Patiño, Pablo Gil Rituerto
Cinematographer Lois Patiño
Music Ann Deveria
Print Source Zeitun Films