Every day, the elderly Matilde and her dog Lucas tend her herd of sheep and alpacas. Matilde spins wool by hand, and skins an alpaca that was attacked by a fox. Her daily life is steeped in the gospel; the Bible is her faithful companion.
The Aymara community, to which Matilde belongs, has long lived in the mountains and high plains along what are now the borders of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. After the Spanish evangelization campaigns, a second wave of conversions has reached this community in the last few decades. Now Matilde trusts more in Heaven than in Earth.
In the prologue we hear that, according to their adopted belief, Earth is Satan’s domain. The once revered natural world has been demoted in status—it is now regarded as an unpredictable and threatening place. One outcome of this worldview is that Matilde is convinced that the fox that attacked her alpaca was sent by the devil. All the while, this elderly woman is surrounded by magnificent natural scenes: the majestic mountains stand like silent witnesses to a connection that is changing.
The film is a short yet effective look into one woman's crisis of faith. However, the MVP of the film's runtime is the breathtaking views of the mountains, rivers, and other landscapes found throughout the land the Aymara occupy. It's simple, yet riveting. – Video Librarian
SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS
Best of Fests, IDFA, Netherlands, 2020
Best Short Documentary, FESAALP, Argentina, 2020
Tampere Film Festival, Finland, 2021
LASA2020 Film Festival, USA, 2021
Trento Film Festival, Italy, 2021
Festival de cine en Lenguas Originarias, Peru, 2020
Festival de Biarritz Amérique Latine, France, 2020
Athens Ethnographic Film Fest, Greece, 2020
Festival Cine+Video Indígena, Chile, 2020