Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A troupe of young, urban, indigenous actors journeys across Bolivia in a theater-truck, and in each community they seek personal testimonies about the social movements that have shaken the country in the past decade, in order to adapt them for their own satirical play. The dramatic transformation of these testimonies in their tour provokes passionate reactions in their politically diverse audiences, who express the nation’s divisions, fears and hopes.


s y n o p s i s
The journey begins in a cultural center, a seven-story, multicolored building that appears to have been built by a mad sculptor in a recycling yard. The building stands in the city of El Alto, a sprawling gray city precariously perched at the edge of the valley of La Paz and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. From El Alto, at 4000 meters above sea level, history is seen with a vertiginous and often furious perspective, and almost everyone supports the left-wing "revolution" proposed by Evo Morales. This is where we get to know the youth of Teatro Trono, the children of miners are proud of their heritage, but for the majority of alteños it seems strange the way that the youth show this pride and the corresponding political dedication: they paint their faces, put on costumes and go onstage. This conflict breaks out in the young actors’ homes: their parents don’t understand this form of expression, even if they agree with the message. In any case, they understand that this play is important, since it represents the social movements, which since the Water Wars (10 years ago) up till now have impacted the daily lives of all Bolivians.

In order to represent the social movements, the troupe literally gets moving: they set off on a trip towards the East in their giant Theater-Truck. In each community, they lead workshops on oral history, in order to elicit the personal stories from the people. They adapt these stories, feeding the dynamic development of their play. Each town and city's stories are shown back to these same communities, provoking diverse reactions that express the divisions, fears and hopes of the country.

On the road, they run into coca-growers’ marches, autonomist opposition protests and narcotraffic police. The group itself also lives through its own internal conflicts: it divides between those that want to interact with the audience and provoke more, and those that want to be less incendiary. We see the play develop the conflicts that shake the country, and the journey goes through these same conflicts. Passing through the countryside and cities of the provinces of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, we share with the group the dramas, joys and challenges that make them constantly rethink how to represent and embody the best of the social movements. The public varies from farmers confused by the circus style, but impassioned by the message, and conservative city-dwellers enraged by the political perspective, but enchanted by the artistic genius. This latter tension explodes in the hotbed of opposition, and the cast ends up reformulating their play together with some Santa Cruz youth. They return to El Alto with a more complex and mature play that represents a surprisingly balanced discourse for a country as polarized as today’s Bolivia.
t r e a t m e n t
Movement:
Movement will be the theoretical glue holding the film together poetically. Movement means a truck traveling from mountains to jungle, a body throwing itself into action onstage or in the street. Movement means change, a rearranging of elements in social and political space, politics played out in an unconventional way: young indigenous actors struggling to communicate their experiences and their vision. Movement also means friction: between left and right, indigenous and white, social movements and government, ruling government and opposition, artistic youth and traditionally political adults.

The testimonies:
The oral history workshops will occur in each community the tour goes through, and one testimony, will be filmed in the place that the narrated event occurred. The actors will then be transformed by the actors in the play that will be performed in these same places.

The play:
Little of the play will appear in the film; flashes of gestures and dialogue will punctuate the film’s emotional rhythm, but the focus will be on the conditions and relationships that spur the play’s creation. The play itself is being developed by the troupe before the tour, and will evolve during the tour in response to the testimonies. The play (and to a certain extent the film) will take the form that the Bolivian social and political movements have taken in the last 10 years: beginning by demanding rights for the historically oppressed, and then recognizing the complexity that implies arriving in power and carrying out a political platform. Additionally, both the play and the film will leave space for the voices of the communities, so that they may express themselves in their contradictory diversity.

Throughout the film, we will concentrate on the evolving relationship between the artists and the public, giving voice to both parties. Showing this relationship will be a way of seeing how effective this theater might be in achieving its goal of moving people. This conflict, initially more implicit, will grow in dimension as the tour advances.

The animation:
Several animations will make the sociopolitical background more accessible to the international public. Additionally, they will show the collective imagination of the social conflicts and individual imaginations of the relationship between the actors and their publics. One example of the first type of animation: a general introduction to the literal and social terrain, with a zoom in from South America to Bolivia (with its sociocultural and political divisions shown), El Alto and cultural center’s building. The second animation, which will be spread throughout the film, will be drawn directly on the filmed image. For example: one actor is sitting in the bus imagining doing a performance there with a speech from his character in the play, and when he imagines we see his animated body come out of his filmed body, standing up and making the spe ech; we also see the imagined reactions of the “public” in the bus to this performance.

The interventions and the mix of documentary and fiction:
The simple act of filming actors in a documentary style demonstrates the performativity of everyday life and blurs the line between documentary and fiction. The film will run with this through artistic interventions designed and executed in conjunction with the protagonists: they will be small fictions inserted in public life and documented by the camera. These will also dramatize the problematic relationship between actors and the general public.

Sound:
The sound design will be marked more than anything by two elements: the mass media of radio and TV, especially the news, and local music. Radio and TV news will be elements that bring word of the political happenings that will affect the trip and the protagonists. The music will come from the drums that the troupe plays and from local musicians.


m o t i v a t i o n
I met the young actors that will be the protagonists of this film through the Community of Artistic Producers (COMPA), a not-for-profit organization that creatively channels the voices of marginalized city youth. I worked for two months as a volunteer with COMPA, leading theater workshops for the youth and for students and educators in far-flung schools. There I realized the wisdom and perceptiveness of the people that inhabit the periphery: from El Alto one sees all of La Paz, and everyone knows La Paz, but for geographic and social reasons those from La Paz can’t even see El Alto, which they fear and avoid at all costs.

As a Bolivian-American educator, I have also acted as a bridge between the COMPA’s youth and American students on study abroad trips. On these trips I learned how to communicate the complex social, cultural, and political issues Bolivia’s youth face to people unfamiliar with the topic – which will be key to making this documentary successful.

While working in COMPA, I lived in the cultural center for a couple of months, and was thus able to form close personal bonds with the same young artists whom I will be filming. During these experiences, I was struck by the plays’ audiences, who are used to another type of politics yet react warmly to these political performances – despite often finding the style quite strange

I have always wanted to make a film with COMPA and the youth I worked with, in particular because they reflect many of the principle characteristics of El Alto and Bolivia: indigenous origin with a regard for the globalized world, and a highly politicized form of spectacular expression. I like the goals and methods of the organization. They seek to bring about a more just, equitable, participative, democratic, and community solidarity-oriented society, but in the most creative ways: a schoolmobile that brings literacy to street kids, a “mine” to give interactive history lessons in the basement of a cultural center made mostly of recycled material… and an itinerant theater-truck. All of this brought me to come again and again to the crazy jewel that is their cultural center in El Alto.

Above all, though, I was moved by two ideas: first, putting young, indigenous, peaceful, progressive, critical and creative ideas centerstage; and second, the organization’s conviction that creative and critical art can be transformative for artist and public, can truly move people and societies. All this in a national context of continual confrontation and ever-increasing polarization.

Theater is COMPA’s best-known activity, and here they really shine, providing youth and community theater that explores issues of political and social relevance. The troupe of most advanced youth writes, directs and performs their own plays, and has toured South America, Europe and the US. They periodically tour Bolivia in the theater truck, bringing their unique style of theater to cities and tiny towns. Theater that is both political and entertaining seems the ideal form to explore sociopolitical themes without boring the spectator. Additionally, art (theater and film) is ideal to express ambiguity and contradiction, which manifest themselves often in the Bolivian sociopolitical situation, but which are hardly ever expressed in mass media discourse.

Bolivia is at a turning point: the indigenous majority has control of the government, a new constitution has just entered into effect, and centuries-old power structures are being destroyed. It remains to be seen what will replace them, and moderate voices that allow open and critical dialogue are needed. Anxious and excited, I have seen this process of change be born from dramatic social struggles of many kinds: massive popular mobilization opposing the privatization of water, the revalorization of indigenous traditions such as growing coca and teaching in local languages, and the redistribution of resources such as gas and land.

Clearly, the conflicts are far from over, with deeply-entrenched opposition among the wealthy elite, those wary of oppressive centralized power they see forming in La Paz’s indigenous government, and those that see radical change as destabilizing and divisive. The youth, especially those in marginalized situations, are often overlooked in these conflicts, and their voices are rarely heard. Nevertheless, they are caught up in these dramatic changes, and understand them perhaps better than most, having always lived in tumultuous times. They are the generation that will inherit the results of the current power struggle.

There is a lot of international interest in what is going on right now in Bolivia: the politics, the social movements, the unusual and dramatic conflicts and resolutions. We will bring a creative, fun, intimate and captivating vision to this situation. Additionally, we will aim for what hardly ever comes from Bolivia these days: a vision with subtleties and grey areas that recognizes the high degree of complexity that characterizes the current sociopolitical situation. I want the film to be a space to explore the complexity of this situation, recognizing the contradictions, strengths and problems of all sides of the conflict. When the rapid rate of social change seems to demand immediate action, open discussion and dialogue is sacrificed. In a moment when all sides are resisting dialogue and violently confronting one another constantly, art can promote progress through peaceful dialogue. The transformative power of art, however, should examine its limitations and errors, and understand how people perceive and are moved by these forms of communication

f i n a n c i a l p l a n
Pre-production:
As a first strategy, the production will look for goods and services that might be donated by co-producers and collaborators in several countries in South America and the USA. Committed to co-producing are the following production companies:
PucaraFilms - Bolivia
La Galápaga - Venezuela
Zona Audiovisual - Argentina
Fundación Universidad del Cine - Argentina.

Another form of seeking resources will be applying to various international funds, as well as national film boards such as Venezuela’s, which support documentary projects with political content based in Latin America. Once production begins, applications will be made to the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and other funds that only support films in production. Also, MySpace, Facebook and blog pages will be put together to spread the word and seek funding. Finally, pre-sales to international TV stations will be sought from companies such as Telesur, and other national channels such as Arte (Alemania/Francia) and Sundance (USA).


Distribution and marketing:
• The film will be sent to festivals, starting with the large Category A festivals (Cannes, Berlin, etc.) and continuing with Category B, in particular those that specialize in Latin American, human rights, politics, independent film and documentaries (Sundance, DocPoint Helsinki, Toronto Hot Docs, South by Southwest, BAFICI, DocBsAs, DocLisboa, etc.).
• A 50 minute version will be made for distribution by TV.
• Showings will be promoted in cultural and community centers, alternative media outles and educational institutions through the Americas and Europe. After the projection, the director and other participants in the film will dialogue with the public.
• A tour with theater and showing sof the film will be made with Teatro Trono, traveling through South America in the Theater-Truck
• A speaking tour will be set up with Ivan Nogales in the US universities, where in addition to showing the film, wider discussions will be started about the roles of art, education and youth in social change in Bolivia and beyond. The film will be shown and copies will be left for libraries and interested professors.
• Copies will be sold to bus companies in Argentina and Bolivia, where they tend to put on films for the passengers. These films are hardly ever national or road movies, which are really what make sense, considering the context.

d i r e c t o r’ s b i o g r a p h y
Mateo Hinojosa, director, editor, North American with Bolivian origins. Through acting, writing, directing, producing, circus, music, animating and filming, Mateo Hinojosa has put art onstage and onscreen in the US, Bolivia, Argentina and Cameroon. Of Bolivian and North American origin, he has worked in Bolivia directing theater workshops in COMPA, teaching literacy in homes for homeless children and heading educational trips with North American students. As an educator, he has taught literature, drama, and Spanish language in high school classrooms, community centers, summer camps and private settings. He is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Documentary Film at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires (graduating in December). Additionally, he is producing exhibitions, animations and videos with the Pantallas art collective, which he co-founded.


p r o d u c e r’ s b i o g r a p h y
Belimar Román, executive producer, Venezuelan. Belimar Román is a documentary filmmaker graduated from la Escuela de Medios Audiovisuales in the Universidad de la Andes in Mérida, Venezuela. She began her career in 2002 with the Workshop for Documentary Filmmaking in Venezuela by the Ateliers Varan from Paris; since then she has directed eight documentaries and has been assistant director in many others. With the film “Antes de Tiempo” she was awarded Best Documentary and Best Script in the Festival of Student Film of the UNIACC in Chile and Best Opera Prima in the Short Film Festival Manuel Trujillo Durán in Venezuela. Her work has been selected for different expositions and both national and international festivals; currently she is working on the postproduction of her first feature-length documentary. She is doing her Master’s in Documentary Film at the Universidad del Cine in Argentina.


t h e d i r e c t o r’ s p r i o r w o r k
“Bombing Buenos”
http://current.com/items/76356982/bombing_buenos.htm
Director’s description:
I directed this short documentary, my directorial and editing debut, for Current TV. I was captivated by the aesthetic possibilities presented by footage and photos of painting, and recognized the artistic challenges implicit when using and re-adapting others’ art – challenges found both in graffiti itself and in film about art. In Spectacular Movements, this dynamic will remain, though the style will be cinematic and narrative as opposed to the expository TV style represented in this short.


“Transmisión”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNlBCZtLrKI
Director’s description:
This video was originally created as the centerpiece of a larger exhibition that explored the themes of communication-reception-feedback, the liminal space between the public and the private, and hybrids of plastic and digital arts. This was my first major foray into animation, and although Spectacular Movements will use a much more conventional style, for example by using paper and digital drawing and not graffiti, many of the acquired skills will be of great use.


“La Relación”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaFBLDx_pFw
Director’s description:
This mix of fiction and documentary explores the relationship between actor and public. The initial dialogue that I filmed with two other actors was fairly free-form. I compiled and edited our words so that they sounded like the dialogue between lovers, and then gave scripts of those words to a male and female actor, who spoke them to the camera (the audience) although it appears they address each other. In Spectacular Movements, I hope to continue the exploration of the problematic and complex relationship between a performer and the public. Also, I hope to bring the mix of fiction and documentary to a new level, by documenting actors on- and offstage, as well as artistic interventions.
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A Bolivian, Argentine and Venezuelan co-production with support from:
Contact:
teohinojosa@gmail.com
rrbelita@yahoo.com