Review of The Devil's Miner

Basilio is a boy you won't forget; only 14, he works below the Bolivian earth as a miner, working with his younger brother to find what little silver might be left beneath the chilly mud of the long-mined mountain. What dazzled me in this documentary is how filmmakers Davidson and Ladkani disappear, how they create a full picture of a young life in peril, how objectively they allow Basilio to tell his tale; occasionally you're aware of the lush sunsets that contrast with the grey mud the boy tramps through on his way to a long shift in unbelievably risky tunnels; it would be easy to continue to extol this films many virtues; The Devil's Miner is an important film about the need for education in a place where the basic necessities are barely obtainable--it's also about courage and self-determination. The fine documentary is certainly not your usual entertainment, but it's not easily forgotten.