Candido

A documentary by Manfred Rainer, Hannah Rosa Öllinger and Stefan Wirnsperger
48 min
English and Spanish w/ English subtitles

Tijuana’s reputation is that of a dangerous border-town with one of the highest murder rates in the world. Obviously the ideal setting for a movie based on “Candide”, a book written by French philosopher Voltaire. After all, during the course of the story, the book’s protagonist Candide is cast out, beaten, robbed, starved, sentenced to death, deported, abducted, enslaved and - more than once - almost killed. Paying tribute to that topos, the essayistic documentary “Candido” observes the daily challenges of five inhabitants of Tijuana’s most dangerous and violence-ridden district, Camino Verde. They talk about life under difficult circumstances, being cheap labour force and the unlikely optimism that is needed to transform a desert into a growing garden. The dichotomy that the existence of every winner also demands a loser shapes our society. It puts you on one side or the other. “Candido” is a film about the people who find themselves on the wrong side but still refuse to be the victims of their own life story.