In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, The Chicago Public Library, Beverly Branch, in association with POV and WTTW, presents a free screening of POV: Brimstone & Glory.

The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico is an event unlike any other in the world. In celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework makers, conflagrant revelry engulfs the town for ten days each year. Artisans show off their technical virtuosity; up-and-comers create their own rowdy, lo-fi combustibles; and dozens of teams build larger-than-life papier-mâché bulls to parade into the town square, adorned with fireworks that blow up in all directions.

More than three quarters of Tultepec’s residents work in pyrotechnics, making the festival more than revelry for revelry’s sake. It is a celebration that anchors a way of life built around the generations-old, homegrown business of making fireworks by hand. For the people of Tultepec, the National Pyrotechnic Festival is explosive celebration, unrestrained delight, and real peril. Plunging headlong into the fire, this documentary honors the spirit of Tultepec’s community and celebrates celebration itself.

This is a free event; please RSVP.