I would recommend keeping some tissues handy for this one. The documentary Ofrenda follows endurance athlete Sara Aranda as she attempts to set the first female record for one of the most brutal stretches of terrain in the United States.
But it’s Aranda’s emotional battle — and the heart-wrenching poetry that accompanies it — that makes this short film so compelling.
“To inherit is often to carry an unknown shape that lingers in the dark, even if that shape has a name: BRCA1,” Aranda narrates early on in the movie.
During Aranda’s college years, her mother was diagnosed with BRCA1, a genetic mutation that increases the chances of developing cancer. Aranda’s mother eventually died from breast cancer, and Aranda later learns that she, too, inherited the mutation.
So even as Aranda battles her way through California’s Death Valley, hoping to run and hike from the nation’s lowest point in Badwater Basin to its highest on Mt. Whitney, she’s facing the fear of what comes after. Ultimately, Aranda finishes the 131-mile trek in 2 days, 15 hours, and 29 minutes, setting the fastest known time (FKT) for a woman on the demanding route.
That alone would be enough for most outdoor documentaries. But this film uses frank conversations between Aranda and her sister for its primary narrative. As they lie side by side, asking one another the questions only sisters can ask, the film finds its strongest theme: the family bonds that keep us all going.
Runtime: 26 minutes
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