\n\t\u201cWe wanted to highlight them because they\u2019re doing some things that are very extraordinary to a lot of us, because they do a lot of things for passion,\u201d Serrano tells Deadline. \u201cI think the most important thing they\u2019re doing is expressing themselves with their bodies in a very dangerous way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tA La Quebrada cliff diver in \u2018Voices From the Abyss\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEFD<\/p>\n
\n\tYoung divers and even some into middle age form the coterie of La Quebrada cliff divers, undertaking the activity almost as a way of life more than a means of making a living \u2013 though not a lucrative one. They have formed a professional association that charges modest sums of tourists to witness their feats. But times have become lean.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe wanted to bring the divers to another public,\u201d Serrano says, \u201cbecause in Mexico, I wouldn\u2019t say that they\u2019re forgotten, but they\u2019re not in the main topic right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSome of the youngest divers almost resemble ducklings plopping into the water for the first time. The most seasoned performers execute their dives with breathtaking grace. For all of them, there\u2019s inherent risk.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf they don\u2019t dive perfectly, they\u2019re going to die because it is very dangerous,\u201d Serrano affirms. \u201cThey have a lot of injuries. Sometimes they have life-threatening injuries and other times they have back injuries or arm injuries because it\u2019s very hard to land all the time perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Voices From the Abyss\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEFD<\/p>\n
\n\tThe documentary has won prizes around the world, including Best Ibero American Short Film at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico, as well as Best Documentary Short awards at Mexico\u2019s Morelia International Film Festival, the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, and the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival in Austin, TX. It also screened at DOC NYC, Cameraimage in Poland, the Busan International Short Film Festival in South Korea, and Hot Docs in Toronto.<\/p>\n
\n\tVoices From the Abyss is shot in lustrous black and white.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWith the short film, we try to communicate how it is to be in the air, like flying,\u201d Serrano explains. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we use slow motion cameras because when they jump, it\u2019s like they\u2019re in some other place. I am a little jealous because I think that the experience they have going onto the cliff, jumping and flying, it is something you cannot feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tA young La Quebrada cliff diver resurfaces in \u2018Voices From the Abyss\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEFD<\/p>\n
\n\tThe photography also captures the roiling surface of the water pierced by the divers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe sea is very powerful, and we wanted it to be more personal, to be like a character,\u201d Serrano notes. \u201cThe sea is very beautiful. La Quebrada is a beautiful place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe filmmakers will be returning often to La Quebrada to work on a feature documentary. The feature will foreground a 15-year-old diver named Lilia, who just celebrated her quincea\u00f1era.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cShe\u2019s wanting to be the first woman to jump from the highest part of La Quebrada,\u201d Serrano says. \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting because it used to be a closed men\u2019s space and right now they\u2019re opening it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSo, have filmmakers V\u00edctor Rej\u00f3n and Irving Serrano hurled themselves from the La Quebrada cliffs, imitating the divers they document? Well, sort of. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cV\u00edctor and I, we jumped from one meter, one-to-five meters in the lower part of La Quebrada,\u201d Serrano shares. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t go any higher than that myself. I mean, it\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWatch the film here:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One by one, they ascend the craggy peaks, barefoot, gingerly searching for toeholds. Once they reach a suitable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[115082,88,172600,206,172602,172601],"class_list":{"0":"post-345125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-awardsdoc","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-irving-serrano","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-voices-from-the-abyss","13":"tag-vu00edctor-reju00f3n"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}