Episode 42: Bernardo Ruiz, renowned film director, on The Infinite Race, an ESPN 30 for 30 film

Social Sport

In this episode, I speak with renowned filmmaker, Bernardo Ruiz, about his ESPN 30 for 30 film, The Infinite Race. Bernardo’s accolades are many: he is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He has directed and produced five feature documentaries and a host of nonfiction programming for a variety of outlets including PBS, HBO, ESPN and Facebook Watch. I recently had the opportunity to pre-screen Bernardo’s film, The Infinite Race, ahead of its December 15th premier, and I know you are really going to enjoy this film. To give you a little background, the Infinite Race is about the Rarámuri, otherwise known as the Tarahumara, an indigenous community in Mexico. You might be familiar with this community from the popular book Born to Run. But what Born to Run doesn’t address is the threat of organized crime that many members of the community face. Bernardo’s film captures events surrounding the 2015 Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco, a crossroads for Tarahumara and international runners. There are many uneven power dynamics caught up in that ultramarathon and, often, in conversations on the Tarahumara community among international audiences. Bernardo talks about all of this and more, so enjoy our conversation. Click here for more information on the premier of The Infinite Race Discussed in this episode: Texas Monthly article, "The Drug Runners," by Ryan Goldberg Born to Run by Christopher McDougall Exoticizing/romanticizing of the Tarahumara Barefoot running fad Micah True aka Caballo Blanco 2015 Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco Luis Escobar, photographer and ultra-marathoner, Andrea Cordoba, filmmaker and producer Irma Chavez, runner and activist Follow Bernardo: Website Follow Social Sport: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter *Photo courtesy of ESPN 30 for 30 Films --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/socialsport/support