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Araya

  • 19591959
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
742
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Araya (1959)
  • Documentary
"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish.... Read all"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. Margot Benacerraf captures in images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic metho... Read all"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. Margot Benacerraf captures in images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic methods of work before their definite disappearance with the arrival of the industrial exploita... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
742
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Margot Benacerraf
  • Writers
    • Margot Benacerraf
    • Pierre Seghers
  • Stars
    • José Ignacio Cabrujas
    • Laurent Terzieff
Top credits
  • Director
    • Margot Benacerraf
  • Writers
    • Margot Benacerraf
    • Pierre Seghers
  • Stars
    • José Ignacio Cabrujas
    • Laurent Terzieff
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 12User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Photos

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    Top cast

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    José Ignacio Cabrujas
    • Narrator (spanish version)as Narrator (spanish version)
    Laurent Terzieff
    Laurent Terzieff
    • Narrator (french version)as Narrator (french version)
    • Director
      • Margot Benacerraf
    • Writers
      • Margot Benacerraf
      • Pierre Seghers
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    "Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. Margot Benacerraf captures in images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic methods of work before their definite disappearance with the arrival of the industrial exploitation. —Carlos Javier Gomez de Llarena <gomezll@ibm.net>
    • salt
    • venezuela
    • salt mine
    • title directed by female
    • third cinema
    • 7 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genre
      • Documentary
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The filming crew consisted of just director Margot Benacerraf and her cinematographer Giuseppe Nisoli.
    • Connections
      Featured in Madame Cinéma (2018)

    User reviews12

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Striking Visual Style in Elemental Black and White Fits Elemental Lifestyles
    This documentary-style, relatively short feature film is poignant, stunning in it's simplicity and rich in its humane impulses; it features actual workers in an almost impossibly hostile semi-desert bordering on the ocean that has served as a salt mine for over 450 years; the huge pyramids of salt are impressive, but even more so are the men who climb them with 140 pound baskets of salt, dumping them on top and receiving a few coins in their palms each time--and the women at the base of the pyramids who bag and tie the salt in hideously hot and dry climate.

    While this group produces much of the money for the locals in their adobe villages, another group produces the food, venturing out in a large boat every morning hopefully to return with nets full of fish, as they have for hundreds of years. There is a strong sense of community that binds these people, and filmmaker Margot Benacerraf, instead of having anyone employ dialogue, follows her subjects with mostly poetic narration and a strong musical soundtrack.

    There is actually a conclusion, and how the viewer reacts to it will certainly reflect attitudes toward modernization and the erasure of ancient traditions; this is a remarkably visual film, stunning to look at, whether from the top of a salt pyramid or bending down to a simple grave decorated with seashells in lieu of the flowers which cannot grow in this part of Venezuela. This is a valuable film document of a disappeared occupation; be sure to watch the "extra" which, fifty years later, follows up on some of the original workers.
    helpful•1
    0
    • museumofdave
    • May 7, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 1959 (Venezuela)
    • Countries of origin
      • Venezuela
      • France
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Арайа
    • Filming locations
      • Araya, Estado Sucre, Venezuela
    • Production companies
      • Caroni Films C.A.
      • Films de l'Archer
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1(original aspect ratio)

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