Across Bolivia

Jaguar's Corner

In 1946, a group of Latvian Brazilian Baptist missionaries arrived to Rincon del Tigre (“Jaguar’s Corner”), in the backwoods of Bolivia, to preach God’s word to the Ayoreo Indians. After sixty years of selfless work in a largely hostile environment, something seems to have gone terribly wrong. Habituated to living under the protective wings of the mission, the Ayoreos seem neither to be willing to support themselves and start living on their own, nor able to return to their traditional way of life in the jungle. Dressed in second-hand clothes, they are stranded in the backwoods of Western-style civilization, with no particular way to go.

Bolivia Burning

2024 was the worst year on record for the world’s primary tropical forests, and Bolivia lost 1.5 million hectares — more than any country except Brazil. Fires set to clear land for agriculture spiralled out of control, turning swathes of the country into an inferno. Against this backdrop, the film follows investigators from The Gecko Project as they journey through the Chiquitano dry forest in Bolivia’s eastern lowlands — the region most deeply affected by fires and deforestation.

Echando Raíces

Bolivia

About the country of Bolivia.

Gringo Trails

Are tourists destroying the planet-or saving it? How do travelers change the remote places they visit, and how are they changed? From the Bolivian jungle to the party beaches of Thailand, and from the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali to the breathtaking beauty of Bhutan, GRINGO TRAILS traces stories over 30 years to show the dramatic long-term impact of tourism on cultures, economies, and the environment.

Cocalero

A documentary centered on the union formed by Bolivian farmers in response to their government's (which was urged by the U.S.) effort to eradicate coca crops, and the man who would come to represent them, Evo Morales.

Mamani in El Alto

His buildings are garish, colorful and completely overloaded. Columns and glittering chandeliers everywhere, and way too much of everything. The Bolivian civil engineer and architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre (*1971) builds houses in El Alto for a nouveau riche upper class of the Aymara, the largest indigenous ethnic group in Bolivia.

When the Bull Cried

Danger, toil, and superstition pervade life in a mining town high up in the Bolivian mountains. Tin is the heartbeat of the community providing jobs and livelihoods - but at considerable cost. With deaths commonplace, people make offerings to El Tio, the devil under the earth, for protection and good fortune. But when the mountain's flow of tin ebbs, further measures must be taken...

Bolivia

Photography trip to Bolivia filmed with a rostrum camera and edited with original sounds from the country.

Fast Food Off the Shelf

In December of 2002, McDonald's had to shut down their restaurants in Bolivia. The company cited financial problems, but the real reasons were to be found elsewhere. Bolivia may be a small, poor nation on the global market, but a country's fierce local food culture can be sometimes a more powerful factor than economic clout. In his first feature-length documentary, Fernando Martinez shows what happened, a story driven by the characters behind the events and their life stories, such as renowned cooks and a review of popular sayings about the Bolivian food. The symbolism is obvious when a multinational giant is 'brought to its knees' by a country's traditions and heritage.

Mascarades

Corporate Accountability

Images of Argentinian companies and factories in the first light of day, seen from the inside of a car, while the director reads out documents in voiceover that reveals the collusion of the same concerns in the military dictatorship’s terror.

My Bolivia: Remembering What I Never Knew

A documentary filmmaker travels to Bolivia to learn more about his father and his family's history.

Uma: A Water Crisis in Bolivia

Andean communities fight to protect their water from contamination by mining companies.

Every Day is Night

For many years, the Swiss photographer Jean-Claude Wicky captured the world of Bolivian miners in photographs. When he discovered how strongly they reacted to his pictures, he decided to make a film. Black-and-white photographs alternate with film sequences, in which the miners talk about the harsh conditions of their everyday lives, while also rendering visible their pride, dignity, culture and dynamic traditions. Every day is night is first and foremost a testimonial of profoundly sincere human encounters based on respect, generosity and gratitude.

Return to Bolivia

A family of Bolivian immigrants living in Argentina operates a greengrocer in a neighborhood of the City of Buenos Aires. In order to get employees for their business, they travel to Bolivia after eight years of absence. During the trip they meet their family, their friends and their abandoned traditions. But everything has changed and Bolivia does not seem to be its place either.

Still Burn

General Alfredo Ovando Candia was a decisive figure in 20 th century Bolivian history. Through old home movies and institutional footage, Mauricio Ovando goes in search of the figure (and the shadow) of his grandfather, interweaving his history and History while going after an uncomfortable truth.

Bolivia efter Che

Bolivia after Chen begins in medias res, with a long shot filmed atop a truck traveling up the Bolivian mountains to transport tin miners. It is a place where union organizing is prohibited, and where women and men, sometimes even children, can work up to 24 hours a day. This was the situation in the mines until the fall of 1969, when a socialist military coup shook the country. The question of whether the situation would really change is what Lindqvist explores in his film.

Evo Pueblo

This is the history of a young farmer of the Bolivian plateau that becomes the first indigenous president of Bolivia. His childhood consists of shepherding ewes in the small school located in Orinoca where he befriends Reneco and Jamie, as well as his first love Wilma. All of them partake in different stages of each others lives. At the young age of 17 he is transferred to Oruro mining city in the heat of the Bolivian plateau. In order to survive he will have to work as a brick maker, baker, and trompetista in the Imperial band. The poverty and continuous droughts in the Moral field force the family Ayma to migrate towards the cochabambino tropic. In the tropical Chapare, Evo will become the biggest coca grower, soon to be delegated and win in the elections for president in 2005 with 54% votes. Evo Pueblo depicts the reality of our country, accounting for the common man that inhabits Bolivia through his fights, joys, poverty, exclusion and marginamiento.

Mein fremdes Land

A Bolivian by birth, who grew up with adoptive parents in the Swabian town of Mössingen, is looking for his family in the mountains of Potosí. Out of poverty, his mother gave the little boy away when he was just a few months old. The search carries a story that goes far beyond personal fate. Because Manuel was born in a region known for the ruthless exploitation of silver. It's a film about identity, homeland and equal opportunities.