British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

The Engineer

Synopsis

Israel Ticas is the only criminologist working in one of Latin America’s most dangerous countries: El Salvador. He’s made it his mission to find the hundreds of missing teenagers who have fallen victim to the country’s brutal gang conflict. The mothers of the disappeared affectionately call him The Engineer. But for The Engineer, death no longer evokes fear. Death is his every day, it has become his art. He calls the bodies he finds “friends” and his office walls are a macabre tribute to them all. Through the eyes of The Engineer this film offers a unique insight into the fight against gang murders in El Salvador.

Details

Year
2014
Type of project
Features
Running time
94 mins
Director
Juan Passarelli, Mathew Charles
Producer
Mathew Charles, Juan Luis Passarelli
Editor
Juan Luis Passarelli
Screenwriter
Mathew Charles, Juan Luis Passarelli
Director of Photography
Juan Luis Passarelli
Composer
Bacteria Soundsystem Crew, Saraguate.

Categories

Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Guerilla Pictures

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Franco, Ale, and Benji walking down Leith Walk after rehearsal. When Cumbia is On

Director: Maria Paz Gonzales

Year: 2024

When Cumbia is On follows three South American musicians and traces the sound of cumbia music through the streets of Edinburgh, asking whether this rhythm is what lets them build a sense of belonging in a foreign land.

Music Woman Director
Frank Zappa reads at The Nova Convention in New York City NOVA '78

Director: Aaron Brookner, Rodrigo Areias

Year: 2025

NOVA '78 resurrects the legendary Nova Convention, the groundbreaking three-day gathering held in New York in 1978 to celebrate William S. Burroughs and the artistic revolution he inspired. Built from newly restored, previously unseen 16mm footage shot by Howard Brookner, the film captures extraordinary performances and intimate backstage moments featuring Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Glass, John Cage, Merce Cunningham and many other defining voices of the era. More than a concert film or historical record, NOVA '78 is an immersive time capsule of a fleeting moment when literature, music, art and radical ideas collided to reshape contemporary culture.

Music
Abdul Ahad Momand Forgotten Spaceman

Director: Elham Ehsas

Year: 2026

In 1988, Afghanistan sent its only astronaut into space, a journey that proved home can be farther than the stars. Official selection Locarno Film Festival 2026

Human Rights