Shane  Smith  goes  to  Mexico  City  to hang out with Mario Almada and other actors, directors and producers  that  play  key  roles  in  what is called in Mexico the “Video-Home” industry. He visits some sets both in Mexico City and in Sinaloa, in northern Mexico,  where the drug trade is both  very real and also reaches mythological proportions. The coverage will  also touch upon cultural elements of northwest Mexico such as Malverde, the pagan patron saint of drug dealers  and  the narco-corridos,  a music genre that  sings  about  the perils and adventures of those involved in the drug trafficking both in  Mexico and the US.

Forget platinum blonde and plastic veneers because Hollywood this is not. From North Korea to Beirut, from Russia to Mexico City, The VICE Guide to Film offers an alternative view of cinema via a series of groundbreaking  documentaries, each exploring some of the lesser known film movements from around the world.

Directed and Produced by VICE co-founder Shane Smith, and VICE Creative Director Eddy Moretti The Vice Guide to Film premiers from today on VBS.tv, with a behind the scenes look at the Mexican film industry.

In this episode, Shane and Eddy explore the active B-movie industry where the movies are low budget and about the very real world of drugs – narco-cinema. They visit ‘Video-Home’ (films that go straight to video) sets all over Mexico and speak with two of the biggest narco-cinema men.

Whether penetrating the state Korean Feature Film studio in North Korea by posing as a fan of Arirang – the famous mass gymnastic games and national pastime – or taking a leap into the dark underworld of Tokyo to find legendary filmmaker Gasper Noe, in true VICE fashion this series is not afraid of addressing taboo subjects, whilst raw aesthetics and thought-provoking subject matter make for compulsive viewing.