La Santa Muerte

Nicolás Romero Silva received a grant for the development of a new film. For this project, Nicolás is diving into the topic of Santa Muerte, or the spiritual practice of Holy Death in Mexico City. He, sociologist Ingrid Alatriste, and Doctor of Religious Studies Srdjan Sremac will document the marginalized spiritual practice. A film/documentary about Santa Muerte´s followers would help to understand the constant seeking of social justice through spiritual practices, in the Mexican context, where the government is responsible for the increasing violence and murders, and the failure to protect its citizens. This film project will help to raise awareness about social marginalisation, religious freedom, and the consequences of neoliberalism in an impoverished country.

Nicolás is a filmmaker from the USA/Mexico currently studying philosophy & politics in Amsterdam. His documentary debut, The Borders of Paradise, dives into the lives of African asylum seekers who are stuck at Europe's internal border of Ventimiglia. The film will play at the Doc Only film festival later this year. Having completed this feature documentary and premiering it in Amsterdam's OT301, he will now collaborate with sociologist Ingrid Alatriste and Doctor of Religious Studies Srdjan Sremac to observe and document the spiritual practices of Santa Muerte (Holy Death) in Mexico City, where violence and incarceration have been increasing along with the popularity of this idol.