El gran movimiento

In Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s second feature – a sequel to 2016’s Dark Skull – amateur actor Julio César Ticona once again plays Elder, an unemployed miner’s son. After a long march, he and his friends arrive in La Paz, looking for work in the mines. Their mission is fruitless, however. The film follows Elder and his two comrades, in their desperate attempts to earn at least some money in the enormous city. In the meantime, Elder becomes increasingly ill.

Russo’s almost documentary approach is interlarded with magic-realist elements, such as the dream-like scenes, in which shaman Max tries to heal the dying miner. Russo also occasionally zooms in (until the images become abstract) on La Paz, a city that consists of an impossible tangle of people, traffic and movement that, together, constitute a fascinating soundtrack. El Gran Movimiento won the Horizon Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

---
Available on Festival Scope Pro from 26 January 9:00 CET to 14 February 9:00 CET