San Fermín ’19
2019 · 20m · España
Directed by Daniel García
Genres: documentary, historical
Tones: contemplative, theatrical
The Sanfermines are a historic, week-long celebration held annually in the city of Pamplona. San Fermín 2019 began on 6 July at noon with the firing of the rocket and continued until midnight on 15 July with the popular chant of 'Pobre de mí'.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A doc about a centuries-old festival *should* be a total snooze, but García's doing something genuinely perverse here — treating Sanfermín not as spectacle but as ritual object, which somehow makes it weirder and more subversive than any genre-flip could.
The film's formal restraint is what arrests you: rather than chase the chaos of the running, García positions the Sanfermines as a measured, almost liturgical sequence, positioning documentary within a lineage of contemplative institutional portraiture that recalls both Vigo and the Dardenne brothers' rigor.
The choice to hold on static, ceremonial moments—the rocket's fire, the chant at midnight—rather than cut to movement transforms what could be tourism footage into something genuinely felt; it's a decision about pacing and trust that makes all the difference.