El Velador; The Distance Montage of a Drug War

Abstract

This text is an analysis of the Mexican documentary El velador under the scope of Peleshyan’s theory of “distance montage”. The thesis reflects on the way the film creates the meaning of violence without showing violence itself, and how the function of montage constructs not only a concept but also an emotional meaning through the repetition of motifs, the distance between them and symbolic associations to have resonance with the viewer about how the war against drug traffic affects everyone one way or another.