CITIZEN SAINT

In a desolate alpine landscape, there stands a cross near the entrance to a mine, adorned with a miner made of stone, revered far and wide as a saint. Offerings are lain at his feet, prayers are mumbled. Every morning a little procession takes place on the hillside. Elderly Berdo, who lost his son in a mining accident years ago and has lived inside the mountain ever since, attending to the patron's needs, tells the story of the holy man. When the stony pitman is scheduled to undergo restoration at a local museum, he suddenly vanishes – in his place, a mute stranger appears, and soon proceeds to work miracles. Monotony is disrupted, the deck reshuffled. While the villagers initially react sympathetically to this saint incarnate, fear gradually gains the upper hand – what will happen if the holy man begins to speak and opts to divulge the intimate wishes and private prayers that have been entrusted to him? With brilliantly composed black-and-white images that immerse the viewer in the remoteness of village life and the toil of working within the Earth's interior, the film humorously examines the absurdity of the situation and the cult-like veneration of saints.