Dir. Diego Mondaca, 2020, Bolivia/Argentina, 80min

Set in 1934, during the Chaco War fought between Bolivia and Paraguay, this spare historical drama follows a small regiment made up of Aymara and Quechua Indigenous soldiers commanded by a retired, gruff German officer fighting for the Bolivian Army. The troop is in a limbo, looking fruitlessly for the enemy, and wandering through the hostile, semi-arid lowlands in extreme weather. Isolation, despair and hunger grow with every day, every hellish march and hastily erected camp.

Pitched somewhere between the bone-dry absurdism of Lucrecia Martel’s Zama and the minimalist drone of Lisandro Alonso’s Los muertos, and inspired by the experiences of his grandfather, director Diego Mondaca’s debut feature is a powerful meditation on the futility and absurdity of war.

UK Premiere

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ECHOS AND HORIZONS: Contemporary Bolivian Cinema

Latin American film club Cinema Mentiré presents a collection of recent Bolivian films at The Garden Cinema (39-41 Parker Street, London WC2B 5PQ)

On the occasion of the Bicentenary of Bolivia’s independence in 2025, join Cinema Mentiré and The Garden Cinema to explore a hand-picked selection of recent gems that testify to the prosperity of Bolivian cinema in the last decade. Cinema Mentiré has brought together three very different feature-length films that offer a taste of the new, groundbreaking narratives exploring a changing nation that is also dealing with its enduring past traumas.

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Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.