The Lost Village

In Almonte, located in a desolate region of Andalusia, the inhabitants live for their Virgin Mary, a statue that was found in the area centuries ago. Each May, tens of thousands of people come from far and wide to nearby El Rocío, the starting point for an insane pilgrimage to the white temple in Almonte. In , various residents of Almonte talk about what the Virgin Mary means to them. All the men try to come "under her," which means that they vie to be the ones to stand under the stretcher that supports the statue during the journey. The women attempt to touch the holy one's robes, and parents virtually throw their children onto the stretcher in the hope that the contact will protect them from evil. This inevitably leads to enormous pushing, but miraculously enough not to arguments or accidents. The anecdotes of the people of Almonte, or Rocíeros, as they prefer to be called, accompany the often enthralling images of the journey that begins and ends in the dark - the modestly bedecked figure of the Virgin high above the surging crowd.