November 2025, New York City
Presented by Color Congress through its Elev8Docs Initiative
In partnership with
Community Partners
About Bernardo Ruiz
Bernardo Ruiz is Mexican-American writer and filmmaker based in Queens, NY. Born to Mexican and American parents in Guanajuato, Mexico, Ruiz came to the U.S. at age 6, growing up in Brooklyn, New York during the heyday of VHS movie rentals. For two and a half decades he has worked in documentary film, garnering three News & Documentary Emmy® nominations for his films.
Ruiz frequently serves as a mentor to emerging makers and has recently worked with Firelight Media, DCTV and the the Future of Science Fellowship to support new documentary makers. In the fall of 2015, Ruiz was a filmmaker-in-residence at the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. In 2024, he was a Documentary Film Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, working on an oral history about independent filmmakers and public media.
Ruiz is currently at work on THE LOW SEASON, a hybrid fiction-documentary feature set in Queens, NY.
Featured Films
REPORTERO
Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico, 2012, 72 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles
Bernardo Ruiz’s acclaimed debut feature Reportero follows veteran reporter Sergio Haro and his colleagues at Semanario Zeta, a Tijuana-based muckraking weekly, as they persist in their work in one of the deadliest places in the world for journalists. Since the paper’s founding in 1980, two editors have been murdered and the founder viciously attacked. Former editor Francisco Ortiz was gunned down just after buckling his two children into the back seat of his car, killed for printing the names and faces of drug traffickers who had long operated with impunity. Gripping and timely, Reportero confronts the violence, corruption, and power struggles along the border. As the drug war intensifies and the threats to journalists grow, the film asks a pressing question: will the free press be silenced? Screening at Firehouse Cinema at DCTV on Wednesday, November 5.
KINGDOM OF SHADOWS
Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2015, 75 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles
Bernardo Ruiz takes an unflinching look at the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico drug war, weaving together the stories of a U.S. drug enforcement agent on the border, an activist nun in violence- scarred Monterrey, Mexico, and a former Texas smuggler, to reveal the human side of an often misunderstood conflict that has resulted in a growing human-rights crisis that only recently has made international headlines. Screening at Espacio de Culturas NYU on Monday, November 24.
HARVEST SEASON
Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2018, 83 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles
Harvest Season delves into the lives of the people who make California’s premium wine possible, following Mexican-American winemakers and migrant workers whose labor is essential yet often overlooked. Set against one of the most dramatic grape harvests in recent memory, the film immerses viewers in the rhythms and challenges of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, where wildfires, a growing labor shortage, shifting immigration policies, and climate change threaten livelihoods. Through the stories of three individuals deeply rooted in the craft, director Bernardo Ruiz captures the intimacy, dedication, and resilience behind every vine and vintage, offering a lush and immersive portrait of an industry—and the people—at the heart of it. Screening at Maysles Cinema on Friday, November 21.
THE INFINITE RACE
Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico, 70 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles
The Infinite Race follows an annual marathon in Mexico’s Copper Canyon, where the indigenous Rarámuri—renowned for their endurance—compete in a grueling long-distance race. Founded in 2004, the event honors Rarámuri traditions and supports the community, including essential corn vouchers. With stunning cinematography and intimate access to the runners, the film explores tensions beneath the race: cultural appropriation, economic pressures, and the threat of drug cartels. When violence threatens the next race, the complexities of the organizers and the global spotlight come into focus. Amid these challenges, the film offers a vivid portrait of a resilient people whose connection to land and tradition endures—race or no race, the Rarámuri continue to run. Screening at CUNY Graduate Center on Monday, November 10.
EL EQUIPO
Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2023, 80 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles
Working with a trove of archival materials spanning four decades and unfolding as part procedural, part true crime thriller, El Equipo chronicles the history-making collaboration between Dr. Clyde Snow, a legendary forensic scientist originally from Texas, and a group of Argentine university students, who were dubbed “unlikely forensic sleuths” by The New York Times. With an unprecedented access to the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and its archives, the fifth feature film by director Bernardo Ruiz offers a welcome twist to the traditional true crime film by focusing on systemic political and human rights abuses rather than on one-off tales of murder or lone serial killers, and deftly creates a direct link between state atrocities from the past and present. Screening at Museum of the Moving Image on Saturday, November 1.
A Conversation with Bernardo Ruiz & Sneak Peek of THE LOW SEASON
Bernardo Ruiz, USA, 2025
With over two decades in independent film, Ruiz will reflect on the collapse of traditional funding, the rise of the creator economy, and the challenges of making meaningful work outside legacy systems. Through film clips and personal insights, he’ll share his “imperfect strategy” for navigating today’s media landscape. The evening includes a sneak peek at Ruiz’s newest project, The Low Season—a hybrid fiction-documentary about a woman from the future who helps immigrant families in present-day Queens. Blending participatory storytelling and speculative fiction, the film opens up bold new possibilities for socially engaged cinema. Event at UnionDocs on Saturday, November 22.