Winner of the World Dramatic prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Utama, ‘our home’ in Quechuan dialect, is a beautifully observed film set in the Bolivian highlands, during an uncommonly long drought. Elderly Quechua couple, Virginio and his wife Sisa, are experiencing the devastating erosion of their land and their traditional ways of life. Like so many before them, they must choose to either endure or to leave, letting go of their Quechua culture, and move to the city with their grandson Clever, who arrives to convince them to do so.

Emotionally understated performances, belie a powerful and elegant story of survival in a dying world. Utama distinctly captures the plight of communities deeply affected by the climate crisis.

“ A sublime, quietly elegiac feature debut...” – Peter Debruge, Variety.

“In a profoundly elegiac manner, it ennobles those who remain rooted, with dignity, even as the end creeps on.” – Shayeza Walid, SIght & Sound.

DIRECTOR: MATTHEW J. SAVILLE

87 mins, Bolivia, Uruguay, France, 2022, Digital, Subtitled

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