12th Cine Latino Film Festival

Sunday, October 13 at 5:00pm

ABOUT THE FILM

In the altiplano near the Andes, a herd of alpacas grazes peacefully only interrupted by the spotty radio transmission of a soccer match. Peru is very close to qualifying to the World Cup for the first time in decades and eight-year-old Feliciano could not be happier with this news. He lives in a remote village with his family, and roams the mountains with two companions by his side: a young alpaca named Ronaldo after the famous soccer star, and his dog Rambo. He spends his days “chatting” with them about local spirits and myths but also discusses soccer strategies and the odds of his national team getting its ticket to Russia. But his quiet world is shaken when the company mining close to Feliciano’s village threatens to poison the water, destroy the region’s delicate ecosystem and jeopardize the life and future of his community. With breathtaking photography by Johan Carrasco, a script by Annemarie Gunkel and Alicia Quispe, and directed by Cusco native Franco García Becerra, Through Rocks and Clouds is a sensitive portrayal of an indigenous community in peril as seen through the candid eyes of his protagonist, Feliciano, charmingly played by young natural actor Alberth Merma. The magnificence of this part of the world and the resilience of its rightful inhabitants are evidently clear but so are their fleeting and, extremely fragile existence.

RAÍZ – En español

En el altiplano cerca de los Andes, un rebaño de alpacas pastando ve su paz interrumpida sólo por la transmisión de radio entrecortada de un partido de fútbol. Perú está muy cerca de clasificarse para el Mundial por primera vez en décadas y Feliciano, un pastorcito de ocho años, no podría estar más feliz con esta noticia. Vive en un pueblo remoto con su familia y sale diariamente con sus dos compañeros: una alpaca joven llamada Ronaldo en honor a la famosa estrella de fútbol, ??y su perro Rambo. Pasa sus días “charlando” con ellos sobre espíritus y mitos locales, pero también analiza estrategias futbolísticas y las probabilidades de que su equipo nacional consiga su billete a Rusia. Pero su tranquilo mundo se ve sacudido cuando las actividades de la empresa minera cerca de su pueblo amenazan envenenar el agua, destruir el delicado ecosistema de su tierra y poner en peligro la vida y el futuro de su comunidad. Con una fotografía extraordinaria de Johan Carrasco, el guión de Annemarie Gunkel y Alicia Quispe, y dirigida por el cusqueño Franco García Becerra, Raíz es un retrato sensible de una comunidad indígena en peligro vista a través de los ojos inocentes de su protagonista, Feliciano, interpretado por el joven actor natural Alberth Merma. La magnificencia de esta parte del mundo y la resiliencia de sus legítimos habitantes son puestas en evidencias, pero también lo son su fugaz y extremadamente frágiles existencias.

PRESENTED BY MSP FILM SOCIETY

Cine Latino returns October 9-13 to The Main Cinema for five days of Spanish and Portuguese language films, special guests, fiestas, food trucks, and more! The 12th annual celebration of the best Latin American, US Latinx, and Ibero Cinema pays homage to the longstanding film industries throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking diaspora by showcasing the diversity of their inhabitants, the immense beauty of their geographies, and the magic of their many cultures through the power of film.