Coming to ESPN and ESPN+ today, Tuesday, December 15:
THE INFINITE RACE
Director:
Bernardo Ruiz
World Premiere:
Full Frame 2020 (unscreened)
Select Festivals:
DocsMX, DocLands, SF DocFest
About:
A Mexican ultramarathon serves as a backdrop for a consideration of indigenous cultural appropriation.
The cultural practice of the indigenous Rarámuri of Chihuahua – also known as the Tarahumara through Spanish pidginization – has long included endurance running. In 2003, an American athlete organized the first edition of the Ultra Maratón Caballo Blanco, a 50-mile ultramarathon, as a way to honor the Rarámuri, promote crosscultural understanding and running for health, and provide Rarámuri participants with food vouchers to help feed their families. The Rarámuri and the ultramarathon came to international prominence following the publication of Christopher McDougall’s book, BORN TO RUN, a bestseller that encouraged runners to travel to the host site of Urique. Bernardo Ruiz explores the history of the race, but digs beneath the surface to provide the perspectives not only of the organizers, but of several of the Rarámuri themselves, in the process expertly revealing the complex intersection of culture, economics, philanthropy, appropriation, and exploitation.
what (not) to doc 