Florentino y El Diablo

Across the dusty plains of Venezuela since the beginning of time has resounded the voice of Florentino, a young singer who had the guts to challenge the devil to a duel in his improvised songs. According to legend, he was a special singer and an excellent horseman who galloped at speed over the plains on a black steed and with a winged cape. So there is plenty of material for a film about this legendary hero who is still the symbol of freedom and independence for the people of the Venezuelan savanna, a stubborn nomadic people that wants to live without borders or restrictions. Now that the area has become the battleground of Mafia, robbers and plunderers who take possession of the land, the cattle and the nomads unannounced, the legend of the hero who drove out the devil with his voice has been reborn as never before. Michael New, born in Trinidad, settled in Venezuela in 1972. As an outsider, he has been very successful with Florentino y el Diablo in portraying this Venezuelan folk narrative in all its glory: devilish robbers on horseback with dangerous spears and pistols hidden under their ponchos, moaning women and not to forget pleasant songs by the camp fire, that conquer the evil in everyone.