Atl Tlachinolli

In order to avoid being sacrificed by his enemies, the God Xólotl transformed himself into a salamander, thus fleeing from what he once was.” So begins the modern quest for the Axolotl, a salamander referred to in local mythology that used to live in the lakes surrounding Mexico City. Believed extinguished, the Axolotl comes back in the shape of a vision and a desire. A dream of rebirth. A dream of a reawakening. Reworking the myth of the transformation from god to reptile as a metaphor for Mexico City itself, the director follows an angler who wishes to become the lost Axolotl because he cannot imagine a future for himself, as well as a corrupt policeman and different gang members in the sprawling suburbs of the Mexican capital. He casts his gaze on the struggle for survival in what was the former lake of Mexico and is now the sprawling habitat of 23 million people. A film about survival and adaptation, Atl Tlachinolli is a challenging visual and philosophical essay about the different ways the past and the future merge.
(Giona A. Nazzaro)