THE FORCE OF THE LAND

RAÍZ

By Franco GARCÍA BECERRA

DESFASE FILM - as PROD

Environmental - Completed 2024

Feliciano is an 8-year-old alpaca herder who is euphoric because Peru has a chance to qualify for the World Cup. However, the community is at risk of disappearing due to pasture contamination and pressure from a mining company.

Festivals
& Awards

Ventana Sur 2023
Films in Progress (FIP)
    • Year of production
    • 2024
    • Genres
    • Environmental, Social issues, Children's
    • Countries
    • PERU, CHILE
    • Languages
    • QUECHUA, SPANISH
    • Budget
    • 0.3 - 0.6 M$
    • Duration
    • 82 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Franco GARCÍA BECERRA
    • Writer(s)
    • Annemarie GUNKEL, Alicia QUISPE
    • Producer(s)
    • Diego SARMIENTO (DESFASE FILM), Jorge CONSTANTINO (MESTIZO FILMS), Annemarie GUNKEL (LUNA ROJA), Franco GARCIA (WAYQUICHA CINE), Juan Francisco GONZALEZ (TIERRA EN TRANCE FILMS)
    • Synopsis
    • Feliciano is a solitary child. He spends his days looking after alpacas in a remote region of the Andes. His only companions are Ronaldo, a young alpaca, and Rambo, an old dog. During his long days watching the alpacas grazing in the mountains, he chats with them about football and his excitement about Peru’s World Cup Qualifiers.

      However, behind an apparently monotonous and peaceful routine, there is a threatening reality: a contaminated lake, the memory of a dead friend and his parents’ worries about the pressure from the mining company.

      In Feliciano’s mind, the arrival of large scale mining angered Auki Tayta, a mythological being of the Andes, who lives in the mines and takes care of the riches of the earth. The reddish coloured footprints that Feliciano finds on his daily walks, and that he associates with Auki Tayta, are a reminder of the imbalance of his environment.

      As Felciano lives his daily life – between shepherding, children’s games and his passion for the World Cup – the residents of the community organize themselves to withstand the pressure to sell their land.

      The day of the penultimate qualifier, Feliciano, his parents and other community residents walk to a nearby town to watch it on TV. On the way back to the village, they find several alpacas with their throats slit, lying in the village square. They understand this as a clear sign of intimidation from the mining company.

      Feliciano discovers that another group of alpacas, among them his friend Ronaldo, have disappeared. He begins a long and desperate search for the animals. The authorities ignore their calls for help; Feliciano and his community are alone in the face of this emergency.

      Not being able to find the animals, his parents and neighbours get organised to take action against the mining company.

      Feliciano clings onto the hope of finding his friend, Ronaldo and continues the search alone.

      THE FORCE OF THE LAND is a film that exposes the risks and difficulties that Andean and indigenous communities face at different levels of a socio-environmental conflict. From the point of view of Feliciano’s innocence, dreams and imagination, the story vindicates the right to live a peaceful and safe childhood.