More Bolivia online

12.01.2004

Another Bolivian-American blogger emailed me, and tipped me off to an online Bolivia webcast “radio” AG Bolivia. I’m listening to it right now, and it streams really well.

From his blog (Vortex_ICS), I learned Dependencia sexual, an award-winning & critically acclaimed Bolivian-American production from Santa Cruz filmmaker Rodrigo Bellott is available from Amazon.com (I also just added it to my Netflix queue). I saw it last year in La Paz, and it’s phenomenal. Not just because it makes Kids look staid, but because it uses a split screen throughout that heightens the tension. Simply a monumental piece of cinema.

Dependencia sexual interweaves various storylines: a teenage boy from Colombia visiting a cousin in Santa Cruz, a poor high school girl from Santa Cruz; a young rich cruceña model and her rich, macho boyfriend who goes to college in the US; a young black female college student in the US; and a blonde football player & model dealing w/ being a closeted homosexual jock. Basically, the film deals very brutally & honestly w/ sex in a globalized world — especially issues of sexism, chauvinism, racism, and classism. Closer to Amores perros than Y tú mamá tambien, but along those veins.

Also, this Sunday's the Bolivian municipal elections. I've been following the campaigns from a safe distance, but utterly curious to see what the final results are. This is the first test to gage how voters across the country feel about political parties.

Posted by Miguel at 03:12 PM

Comments

When you get that movie, could I watch it too? It sounds really interesting and almost like "Love Actually" with the interweaving storylines.

Posted by: Kara at December 1, 2004 03:28 PM

Sure. But. While I enjoyed Love Actually quite a lot, Dependencia sexual is actually a bit uncomfortable to watch (much like Kids or Amores perros). In part, because the split screens sometimes follow two different stories & can be quite confusing, especially early in the film (and especially when parts are in English & parts in Spanish).

Posted by: Miguel [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 1, 2004 03:35 PM

Ha ha, I've just found out I've already added this movie to my Netflix queue. Can't remember where I found about the movie. Cheers, N.

Posted by: Nenad at December 1, 2004 06:03 PM

I too saw this movie back in October. I liked it a lot, although it can make you hate that side of Bolivian life. Although the movie was set in Santa Cruz, I know and have seen people like that in Cochabamba and in La Paz.

Posted by: eduardo at December 1, 2004 07:31 PM