Latineos - Latin America, Caribbean, arts, culture

The other elements The other elements involved in the production of the film are considered secondary to the personal expression of the directorinvolved in the production of the film are considered secondary to this personal expression of the director’s, and the idea is that the stronger his or her vision the more effective it will be in surmounting all the other paraphernalia involved in the making of the movie.  Producers too may be the central ‘auteur’ (author) in this process, and the result is that certain directors’ and producers’ productions may be immediately identified as belonging to their unique oeuvres, and audiences will know what sort of thing to expect when they go to see their productions.

Francois Truffaut introduced the concept of this new genre of ‘auteurism’ in 1954, a means whereby critics analyse a film more in terms of the previous output of a particular director, in the light of the director’s philosophical outlook and psychological makeup, than from the technical and tale-telling point of view.

Cinema d’auteur is especially associated with the French cinema’s New Wave in the 1950s, and originated with film adaptations of books, such as those of Robert Bresson, where it was maintained by Truffaut that novels could be used as a tent pole about which the personal vision of the director could be draped.  Both a consistent style and visual theme can be traced in the case of directors such as Hitchcock and Truffaut, who illustrate the essential auteur theory that a director’s films can be as much identifiable expressions of their outlook as are an author’s novels or a painter’s pictures.

In Bolivian cinema there is a close intertwining of political and aesthetic elements.  Bolivian In Bolivian cinema there is a close intertwining of political and aesthetic elementsfilms have a history of having to compete with the productions of the neighbouring Argentine and Chilean industries, which are much bigger, and this need to focus on getting a distinctive product onto the international market and attract critical acclaim has given rise to a string of Bolivian directors who may be considered as belonging to the auteur tradition.  Bolivian films are most often seen on the festival circuit rather than in mainstream cinemas, but they have always attracted less attention even there when compared to Argentinean New Wave and the Cinema Novo.  This is unfortunate, because Bolivian films offer a unique vision born out of their directors’ experiences in an industry that seems to have everything loaded against it.  The country’s political instability is reflected in the preoccupation with politics and aesthetics, and also the fact that the government – which changes every three years – is heavily involved in the industry there.

Bolivia’s first feature film dates back to 1925.  Directed by Pedro Sambarini, it follows the annual celebration of Bolivia’s National Day as experienced by a handful of individuals.

Jorge Ruiz, a leading documentary filmmaker and distinguished cameraman, worked on the first colour film to come out of Bolivia in 1949, Donde Nacio un Imperio, and in 1953 made his best work, Vuelve Sebastiana.

Bolivia’s greatest director has been Jorge Sanjines, who has based his films around cultural issues in Yawar mallku dealt with the sterilization of Indian women by Peace Corps Americansthe country, such as Ukamau (1966) which dealt with the issue of the native Indian population, and Blood of the Condor ( Yawar mallku - Sangre de Còndor) (1969), which was an acclaimed international success and dealt with the sterilization of Indian women by Peace Corps Americans.
These Bolivian directors and others such as Antonio Eguino, Rodrigo Bellott and Marcos Loayza all have immediately recognizable styles and have all built up their own enthusiastic followings on the festival circuit, so may be seen as being in the auteur tradition.  Notable female directors are also emerging, such as Adriana Montenegro, whose From the Core (2008) concerns the return of a woman to Bolivia after a family death and uses imaginative techniques to delve into her emotional life.

Zona Sur (Southern District) by the director Juan Carlos Valdivia (2009) is one of the latest films to emergeZona Sur, one of the latest films to emerge from the Bolivian cinema d’auteur from the Bolivian cinema d’auteur.  It is representative of a great many films coming out of emerging third world countries as they struggle to come to terms with the recent past, and uses domestic turmoil as experienced by one family as a commentary on Bolivia’s disintegrating upper classes.  At the same time the film transcends boundaries and, in its portrayal of the generation gap and the struggles involved with raising a family anywhere, it appeals to audiences across the world.  The film uses an unknown cast and adopts elliptical techniques to relate the story of this contemporary dysfunctional family.  Long, unbroken shots and a revolving camera lend a poignant note to the most common domestic events and suffuses them with universal significance, and although no ‘action’ occurs it is the slow accumulation of details that gives the film its power, reminding one of Bergman’s ‘Fanny and Alexander’ in its portrayal of the joys and tribulations inherent in everyday life.