Araya

Margot Benacerraf's 1959 documentary about Araya—an isolated Venezuelan peninsula that juts into the Caribbean—mixes poetry with realism to portray the everyday lives of the residents in this stark desert and salt marsh environment, which was originally settled by the Spanish in 1500. For the most part, the inhabitants' “daily ritual of salt” has continued unchanged through the centuries, as most of the region's workers perform the grueling, monotonous tasks of extracting, transporting, and refining the valuable natural resource. It's a hard, unforgiving life in a land of harsh beauty, where the homes are basically primitive huts and drinking water must be trucked in. Combining stunning black-and-white visuals with lyrical voiceover narration and music by Guy Bernard, Benacerraf follows generations of several different families, some of whom earn their living through fishing or making pottery. Although Araya is both a powerful nonfiction narrative and a beautiful work of art that some have called a tribute to an ancient way of life, the film never romanticizes its subjects. A Cannes award-winner, the documentary all but disappeared until its restoration and revival in 2009. DVD extras include archival interviews with Benacerraf, a profile of the director, and her 1953 short documentary Reverón, on the Venezuelan artist Armando Reverón. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)