Have you ever watched a snowball roll down a hill? How about in the desert?

Birds of Passage is the remarkably realized story a Wayuu clan and their decent that begins with nothing but love, told by directing team Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra. The team has specialized in stories told from the view of aboriginal people, and with this story they wanted to tell a tale that is often blown out of proportion in Hollywood studios, the story of the Colombian drug trade. This time the tale would be handled with respect and care it deserved, and through the lens of a family of Colombians. Their determination and understanding brings us a crime epic that is truly unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, and with an emotional currency that hasn’t hit this deep since The Godfather.

The entire ensemble brings an authenticity to the film that lays the groundwork for our tale. It is here that we find interest in their culture and their family before the shit hits the fan and we find these people we come to love drowning in their decisions. Paired with a picture that utilizes colour and composition to evoke powerful emotions, Birds of Passages not only stands as a cinematic marvel, but as a film that is cinema at its core: art that depicts an absolute truth via twenty-four beautiful frames a second.