Broken by the recent death of his father, aimless and troubled Elder Mamani drunkenly tears through Huanuni, a small, impoverished, indigenous mining community where life is hard and opportunities are few. Picked off the floor and given a job in the mines through the auspices of his godfather Francisco, Elder struggles to adjust and stumbles across an incriminating secret, setting the stage for an unforgettable standoff between the two within the shadowy tunnels, lakes and caverns of a dark and dangerous subterranean world.

A film of jaw-dropping, dreamlike visuals by DP Pablo Paniagua, the haunting debut from writer/director Kiro Russo and co-writer Gilmar Gonzales is a darkly beautiful study in atmosphere, mourning and the fragile bonds of community. Expertly building a sense of dread and foreboding before its stunning last act, Dark Skull establishes itself as a landmark in Bolivian cinema.

"For a long time I was conflicted with the fact of making films that not everyone understood... So I started looking to make more classical things. But my experience has shown me that what is needed is to make truly authentic Bolivian cinema." Kiro Russo