“Liborio” invites viewers to the birth of a religion and asks them if they would believe. Based on a historical figure, albeit one with the dimensions of a folk hero, “Liborio” is set in the countryside of the Dominican Republic in the early 20th century. After being lost in a torrential storm and thought dead, a man (Vicente Santos) is found alive days later. He informs his community he has been to heaven and returned with a message to save the people.  He is reborn as Liborio.         

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While his resurrection occurs earlier in his story, Liborio is a remarkably Christ-like figure whose profile in his community grows with a series of miracles, such as saving a child.  Liborio preaches a simple and positive creed—out with the evil and in with the good—to his rural followers. He is a benevolent leader, never trying to fight, but only to keep his community fed. Despite this, like Christ, he eventually runs afoul of the powers that be through little fault of his own, with the United States Marines playing the part of the Romans. 

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“Liborio” is the feature directing debut of Nino Martínez Sosa, a Dominican-born Spaniard with extensive experience as a film editor. While the story of Liborio could be interpreted into a variety of genres, Sosa’s priority with the film isn’t plot or politics as much as putting viewers into the heads of Liborio’s followers.  As in the Gospels, the story isn’t told in the prophet’s words but through the eyes of various followers.  Over and over, we see characters gaze at Liborio, the dance of faith and doubt in their eyes, trying to decide whether or not they’re witnessing the miraculous.

Continue reading ‘Liborio’: Nino Martínez Sosa’s Debut Is A Moving Drama About Belief [ND/NF Review] at The Playlist.