Brimstone & Glory

POV Season 31
  • Feature Film
  • 2018
  • 60 Mins

The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. Conflagrant revelry engulfs the town, while artisans show off their technical virtuosity. For the three-quarters of Tultepec residents who work in pyrotechnics, the festival anchors their way of life. It is an explosive event with unrestrained delight and real peril. Plunging headlong into the fire, Brimstone & Glory honors the spirit of Tultepec's community and celebrates celebration itself.

More from this film

Brimstone & Glory - The National Pyrotechnic Festival

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Interview

The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. Conflagrant revelry engulfs the town, while artisans show off their technical virtuosity. For the three-quarters of Tultepec residents who work in pyrotechnics ...

Trailer | Brimstone & Glory

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. Conflagrant revelry engulfs the town, while artisans show off their technical virtuosity. For the three-quarters of Tultepec residents who work in pyrotechnics ...

Based on similar topics

93Queen

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Interview

Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, 93Queen follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. With unprecedented and ...

Still Tomorrow

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Interview

A village woman with no high school diploma becomes China's most famous poet, and her book of poetry the best-selling such volume in China in the past 20 years. Still Tomorrow follows Yu Xiuhua, a 39-year-old woman living with cerebral ...

The War to Be Her

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

In Waziristan, "one of the most dangerous places on earth", Maria Toorpakai defies the Taliban, disguising herself as a boy so she can play sports freely. But when she becomes a rising star, her true identity is revealed and death ...

Brimstone & Glory

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Interview

The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. Conflagrant revelry engulfs the town, while artisans show off their technical virtuosity. For the three-quarters of Tultepec residents who work in pyrotechnics ...

Presenting Princess Shaw

  • Feature Film
  • 2017

Feature Film

Samantha Montgomery placed her dreams on YouTube. Then they became a reality. Presenting Princess Shaw is the extraordinary story of an aspiring musician, down on her luck, who inspired internationally famous musician, composer and video artist Ophir "Kutiman" Kutiel to ...

Big Birding Day

  • Short Film
  • 2011

Short Film

David Wilson offers a glimpse into the world of competitive birdwatching, as three friends attempt to see as many species as possible in 24 hours.

Flawed

  • Short Film
  • 2011

Short Film

Artist/filmmaker Andrea Dorfman's drawings burst colorfully into life as she animates the story of her long-distance relationship with a man whose profession — plastic surgery — gives her plenty of fodder.

The Archive

  • Short Film
  • 2010

Short Film

This is the story of a man and his records. Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling ...

SALT

  • Short Film
  • 2010

Short Film

In his search for "somewhere I could point my camera into pure space," award-winning photographer Murray Fredericks began making annual solo camping trips to remote Lake Eyre and its salt flats in South Australia. These trips have yielded remarkable photos ...

A Different Color Blue

  • Short Film
  • 2010

Short Film

In a dusty art studio tucked away in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, artist Charles Curtis Blackwell pores over works of beauty and remarkable spirit. A Different Color Blue explores the redemptive power of art, an ability to find hope ...

Joe's Violin

  • Short Film
  • 2017

Short Film

In the Oscar-nominated Joe's Violin, a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship. 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Joe Feingold and 12-year-old Bronx school girl Brianna Perez show how the power of music can bring light in the darkest of times, and ...

Balloonfest

  • Short Film
  • 2018

Short Film

The city of Cleveland was abuzz on September 27, 1986. Over 1.5 million balloons were about to be released at once, breaking the world record. What could go wrong?

The Velvet Underground Played At My High School

  • Short Film
  • 2020

Short Film

This animated short recounts the Velvet Underground's first gig in 1965: in front of a crowd of shocked kids at a suburban New Jersey high school.

Clash

  • Short Film
  • 2020

Short Film

Clash is a short experimental documentary critiquing the lack of diversity in on-screen representation in the U.K. today.

Gentlemen of Vision

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Gentlemen of Vision follows a year in the life of coach, counselor and founder Marlon Wharton, and his 2015-2016 class of young Black males as he strives to rewrite future prospects for his students. While striving for excellence in school ...

Through the Repellent Fence

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Through the Repellent Fence​ follows the creation of a two-mile long ephemeral art installation by three Native American artists: Raven Chacon, Cristóbal Martínez, and Kade L. Twist. Collectively known as "Postcommodity," these artists explore Indigenous connections to place and ...

Finding Kukan

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Filmmaker Robin Lung documents her 7-year journey to uncover the efforts of Li Ling-Ai, the visionary but uncredited producer of Kukan. Lung discovers a damaged film print of Kukan, and pieces together the untold tale of the two renegades behind ...

Random Acts of Legacy

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Filmmaker Ali Kazimi finds a rare cache of deteriorating 16mm home movies spanning from 1936 to 1951, and deftly crafts a story of history and memory in Random Acts of Legacy. The family archive that Kazimi discovers was the work ...

Who is Arthur Chu?

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Who is Arthur Chu?​ follows 11-time Jeopardy! winner Arthur Chu, who won almost $300,000. By using an unconventional game strategy, the former insurance analyst amassed tens of thousands of fans and haters on Twitter. In an effort to put ...

Engage with the issues

POV believes in the power of film to engage communities in dialogue around the most pressing social issues of our time. Use one of the film's accompanying resources to learn about the issues and get involved. Visit the POV Community Network to browse films available for screenings.

Host a screening in your community

Reading List

Brimstone and Glory Delve Deeper Reading List

Lesson Plan

  • Grades 9-10

Comparing Written and Visual Poetry

Film Credits

  • Viktor Jakovleski Viktor Jakovleski headshot.JPG

Critical Acclaim

Related events

September 14
Screening

POV Screening: Brimstone & Glory

Chicago Public Library - Albany Park
September 22
Screening

POV Screening: Brimstone & Glory

Chicago Public Library - Bucktown-Wicker Park
September 22
Screening

POV Screening: Brimstone & Glory

Chicago Public Library - Richard M. Daley

More Events

Press Room

‘POV’ Captures the Revolutionary Campaign for Workers’ Rights at Amazon in its 38th Season Opener UNION La 38ª temporada de POV presenta historias humanas francas sobre la identidad, la familia y la esperanza colectiva La temporada comienza el lunes, 23 de junio de 2025 POV’s 38th Season Presents Honest, Human Stories of Identity, Kinship and Collective Hope Season Begins Monday, June 23, 2025
More from The Press Room

Broadcast schedule

Check your local PBS station
for upcoming airings of POV

More from this series

Learn more about POV