Brimstone & Glory
The ritual, danger and the beauty of fireworks is on display here in this award-winning documentary that captures a Mexican city's annual pyrotechnic festival.
"Tultepec is what you might call an “explosive” Mexican city — over two-thirds of its residents manufacture fireworks. Each year, the town’s inhabitants cautiously begin the dangerous work of crafting handmade fireworks for the annual National Pyrotechnic Festival that attracts thousands of spectators ... Director Viktor Jakovleski uses GoPros and a flying drone that soar high above, abstracting and widening the vista of the festival and taking viewers on a magical cinematic journey through the sparks and flames that ignite the night skies." (Hot Docs Festival)
- Director:
- Viktor Jakovleski (feature debut)
Reviews & comments
Vulture
pressIn Brimstone, it's a manic, freewheeling moment, empowering to the young person holding the flames and foreshadowing the impossibly precarious explosions to come.
Variety
pressMixing sheer spectacle with modest but pleasing human-interest threads, Viktor Jakovleski's first directorial feature is a poetical, entrancing documentary that should delight niche viewers across many cultural borders.
The New York Times
pressThe film ... has a wandering attention span and grows monotonous even at barely more than one hour.
Stuff
pressThis is a dizzying, beautiful, awe-inspiring and deeply wonderful film. It has the power to turn grown adults into grinning, whooping kids.
New Zealand Herald
pressThe heady mix of beauty and lunacy will have you giggling in amazement.
Los Angeles Times
press"Brimstone" is less successful as it edges toward an impressionistic immersion into fire and fiesta, but as you-are-there experiences go, it has energy to burn.
Hollywood Reporter
pressViktor Jakovleski's sometimes rapturous Brimstone & Glory takes us to Tultepec for two annual rituals that celebrate this livelihood, reveling in their spectacle and observing the days leading up to them.
Whoa! Whee! Wow! What a stunning visual treat. First-time director, Viktor Jakovleski’s documentary offers just over an hour of spectacular footage from the annual, week-long pyrotechnics celebration of San Juan de Dios in Tultepec, Mexico. Ditching narration for full-blown immersion amongst the chaotic crowds risking danger amidst the dynamite. When it’s...
Vulture
pressIn Brimstone, it's a manic, freewheeling moment, empowering to the young person holding the flames and foreshadowing the impossibly precarious explosions to come.
Variety
pressMixing sheer spectacle with modest but pleasing human-interest threads, Viktor Jakovleski's first directorial feature is a poetical, entrancing documentary that should delight niche viewers across many cultural borders.
The New York Times
pressThe film ... has a wandering attention span and grows monotonous even at barely more than one hour.
Stuff
pressThis is a dizzying, beautiful, awe-inspiring and deeply wonderful film. It has the power to turn grown adults into grinning, whooping kids.
New Zealand Herald
pressThe heady mix of beauty and lunacy will have you giggling in amazement.
Los Angeles Times
press"Brimstone" is less successful as it edges toward an impressionistic immersion into fire and fiesta, but as you-are-there experiences go, it has energy to burn.
Hollywood Reporter
pressViktor Jakovleski's sometimes rapturous Brimstone & Glory takes us to Tultepec for two annual rituals that celebrate this livelihood, reveling in their spectacle and observing the days leading up to them.
Whoa! Whee! Wow! What a stunning visual treat. First-time director, Viktor Jakovleski’s documentary offers just over an hour of spectacular footage from the annual, week-long pyrotechnics celebration of San Juan de Dios in Tultepec, Mexico. Ditching narration for full-blown immersion amongst the chaotic crowds risking danger amidst the dynamite. When...
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