PEARL 24, 18.10.2024

World Service: Sleep Now in the Fire

A Meditation on death, rebirth, and resilience in Mexico, and the oppressive influence of Western religion on native traditions.
Eine Meditation über Tod, Wiedergeburt und Resilienz in Mexiko, und den repressiven Einfluss westlicher Religion auf native Traditionen.


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Todd Torso
Mexico, USA 2023
00:09:52

A Meditation on death, rebirth, and resilience in Mexico, and the oppressive influence of Western religion on native traditions.

Eine Meditation über Tod, Wiedergeburt und Resilienz in Mexiko, und den repressiven Einfluss westlicher Religion auf native Traditionen.

While its influence serves as a means of hope, strength and identity for billions, Christianity and its iconography have re-molded native cultures across the globe, leaving an undeniable imprint on the evolution of indigenous art, beliefs and traditions. A tool of oppression framed as a conduit for freedom, the spread of Western religion brought with it mass change still felt in the modern world, embedded in the power structures that continue to feed political discord today.

In a visual meditation on death, rebirth, and resilience, writer-director Todd Tourso explores the concept of liberation theology on a journey through Mexico in short film Sleep Now In the Fire. Inspired by his work with Rage Against The Machine – whose music also guides the narrative – the film paints a powerful image of modern Mexico, exploring the clash of its traditional spiritualism and rich ecology with aggressive border politics and social conflict.

“A source of hope for a large part of the world’s population, Western religion is also one of the greatest tools of oppression. Sleep Now In The Fire reframes the archetypal story of a suffering God resurrected, into a metaphor for the liberation of the poor and politically oppressed.”

Shooting the country through a cinematic lens, Sleep Now In the Fire took shape over the summer of 2022, on location in Tlalnepantla, Desierto de los Leones, Nezahualcoyotl, Chimalhuacan, and Playa Chacalacas. Illustrating the many facets of Mexico through the cultural signifiers attached to it, Tourso studies the emergence of pervasive issues at odds with its cultural wealth, and how outside intervention and the hangover of historic ills have shaped its political landscape.

November 6, 2023

  • Titel: World Service: Sleep Now in the Fire
  • Director//Regie: Todd Torso
  • Country of Production//Land: Mexico, USA
  • Year of Production//Jahr: 2023
  • Duration//Dauer: 00:09:52
  • Music//Musik: Rage against the Machine
  • Webpage//Webseite:
  • Trailer: