The Andes's Odyssey

Avoir 16 ans et toutes ses Andes(fr)

Los Nevados(es)

Los Nevados is the first peasant feature film from Venezuela. The magical poetry about humans who endure an almost animal, almost instinctive, almost sad existence, which turns into a complaint.

Las cinéphilas(es)

Six elderly retired women, two from Buenos Aires, Argentina; two from Montevideo, Uruguay; and two from Madrid, Spain, have something in common, despite their different interests and lives: they go to the movies almost every day.

The Champion of the World(es)

Ten years after winning a world title in bodybuilding in Russia and becoming a star of said discipline in Mexico, Antonio Osta (43) leads a life of austerity in the Uruguayan rural town where he grew up. He resides there with his son Juanjo (17), a sensitive teenager who keeps him company and confronts him openly. Suffering from acute kidney disease which keeps him from competing professionally, Antonio is stuck in limbo, halfway between his glorious past and the impossibility of being who he once was. However, he is unwilling to give up his lifestyle, even if it kills him. In an attempt to reinvent himself, and seeking a better future for his son, Antonio plans a comeback to the Mexico bodybuilding scene, where he may relive his glory days.

Candomberos: de dos orillas(es)

Documentary about the birth and development of candombe in Uruguay. It is built through testimonies, audiovisual files and animations. It also covers the actuality of the candombe on the shores of the Río de la Plata.

Only Noise - Las 65:45 horas de gloria de Les Renards(es)

ONLY NOISE is a documentary that tries to rescue from oblivion a tale with Les Renards as protagonists, one of the many bands from the 60s that was a key witness and pioneer in the first big explosion of Uruguayan Rock. It might look like a tale from an ordinary band, but in 1968 this band managed to break a world record.

Corporate Accountability(es)

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.

Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains(es)

The story, told by the survivors, of a group of young men, members of a Uruguayan rugby team, who managed to survive for 72 days, at an altitude of almost 4,000 meters, in the heart of the Andes Mountains, after their plane, en route to Chile, crashed there on October 13, 1972.

Touching the Void(en)

The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Women's Memoirs(es)

The Punta de Rieles prison was where most female political prisoners were incarcerated during the dictatorship in Uruguay. The way up to the building led through “the meadow” where there were animals grazing, and the prison itself was surrounded with flowers. The place seemed eminently liveable, almost comfortable, and at first sight there was no sign of the silent struggle going on behind those walls. This documentary is an attempt to reconstruct life at the prison through the testimony of some of the hundreds of women who were there and who resisted the military regime's attempts to grind them down and destroy them.

El Maracanazo del 50(es)

On Remembering(es)

After the coup in Uruguay in 1973, thousands of intellectuals and artists fled the country. The filmmaker’s father was among them and left for Europe. After his passing, she came upon some Super 8 movies and audio files he had recorded. Through this archive, she started building a new family story trying to reveal and understand the silent pain of exile.

The Way the Wind Blows in October. The 2004 Election in Uruguay(es)

In 2004, after 174 years in which political power was always held by one or other of the parties on the right, a historic change at last became possible in Uruguay. This documentary was filmed in the days coming up to the election, and it shows how the common people saw their country. The main protagonist is the man in the street. With humour, with intense emotions, with a lot of dignity and a passion for politics, these Uruguayans show how proud they are to be playing a role in their country's history.

One or Two Questions(es)

In 1986, the Uruguayan Parliament passed a law granting amnesty for all crimes and human rights violations committed by the military and police during the dictatorship (1973-85). This law of impunity prevented the clarification demanded by the relatives of those who had disappeared and been murdered by the former regime. A public initiative arose calling for a referendum in which the law be subject to the vote of the people. Unas preguntas uses U-matic footage, mostly of interviews recorded on the streets of Uruguay between 1987 and 1989, to present a time capsule of the period.

Child of the Andes(fr)

Ten-year-old Sébastiana recounts the history and legends and explains the local customs of Andahuaylillas, Peru, a small village located high in the Andes. Their simpler way of life has persisted for over three centuries, undisturbed by modern society's technology and materialism.

The Andes Tragedy: 50 Years Later(en)

In 1972, a plane carrying an Uruguayan rugby team disappeared into the Argentinean Andes. Now, 50 years after one of the greatest ordeals of survival in recorded human history, the full story is finally comprehensively told through the words of each of those who lived it.

Tango(de)

A brief history of the emergence and artistic innovations of tango in 19th-century Argentina and Europe. The film offers a mosaic of tango melodies, art works, dance performances, historical footage, photographs of Buenos Aires at the turn of the 20th century, and texts by Celedonio Flores and Enrique Santos Discépolo.

The Living Stones of Sacsayhuamán(ru)

Sacsayhuamán, an ancient citadel amidst the Peruvian Andes, is an architectural marvel. It was built more than 900 years ago, and no living person knows how such large rocks were fitted so perfectly into walls. This documentary takes us on a tour of Sacsayhuamán, offering a brief history of the site, and clues that may help to its understand how it was made. It was edited from photos and video taken in July 2012, when Russian geophysicists conducted soil research there, at the request of Peru's Ministry of Culture.

Puma!(en)

It is a powerful predator, one of the most elusive animals in Patagonia and rarely filmed. In the very South of Chile the Pumas' hunting grounds lie in the awe-inspiring Torres del Paine National Park, follow a mother Puma as she rears her cubs in the wild, teaching them to survive and thrive.

Páramos de leyendas(es)

At the highest point of Venezuela, where the fog envelops the memory of time and the wind whispers ancestral tales, Páramos de Leyendas reveals, through portraits of muleteers and peasants, the courage of those who braved the heights and the relentless cold, often barefoot and wearing only a poncho. In this hostile environment, tough personalities were forged, but with an unparalleled spark of humor and wisdom.