AnunconventionalportraitofasmallvillagetrappedoutoftimeandlocatedontheGalicia-Portugalborder,EloyEncisoCachafeiro’sArraianosisoneofthoserarefilmswheredescriptionisinadequate:likethelandscapeofthevillageofArraianositself,it’ssomethingtoexperience.StagedStraubianmomentsoffictionstandalongsidedocumentarymomentsofeverydayvillagelife,withthenameless“actors”farming,sittinginthelocalbarandsingingtraditionalsongsintheirspecificregionaltongueandtellingoldwives’tales.We’reneverfarawayfromnature--thenoisypresenceofanimalsisinescapable--asistheenvelopingforest,aplacethattakesonmythicalqualities.Butstorytellingmaybethekey,asthefilmvisualizesoralhistory--avisualizationthat’sneeded,asatonepoint,whenanolderladystartstosing,thelyricsgounremembered.ThefictionalelementsofthepiececomefromaplaybyMarinhasdelValle,TheForest,writteninthe1960sasaparableofFranco’sdictatorship,butalsoagreatportraitoftheGaliciansoul,theirtragicexistentialism.Thefilm’sdocumentaryelementst