Set against the spectacular high sierra of the Bolivian Andes, this strikingly shot first feature from photographer Alejandro Loayza Grisi is the tale of an old man—a Quechua llama farmer—staring death in the face and refusing to blink. Drought shrouds the dirt-poor terrain, the nearest village is on course to become a ghost town as one family after another abandons it for the city, and wife Sisa has to walk further and further to bring back water, but Virginio refuses to budge from the mud hut which is the only house he’s ever known or needed. (In the Quechua language, “utama” means “home”.) The return of their grandson Clever—with his modern ideas—challenges Virginio’s authority, but the filmmaker’s own sympathies seem evenly balanced.
Loayza Grisi gives us an authentic snapshot of a remote corner of the world, and a different way of thinking about mortality. Stellar work by cinematographer Barbara Alvarez (The Headless Woman) and the dignified performances from real-life couple José Calcina and Luisa Quispe (both non-professional actors) ensure Utama lingers in the mind.
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Sundance 2022
Community Partner
José Calcina, Luisa Quispe, Santos Choque
Bolivia/Uruguay/France
2022
In Quechua and Spanish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Secret Agent
Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.
Seeds
Shot over nine years, Brittany Shyne’s Sundance-winning documentary is a tender portrait of Black farming families in the American South. A moving meditation on land, legacy, and the strength it takes to hold on.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and Special Jury Prize Winner, Sundance, 2025, this exposé shot by a Russian primary teacher shows how the Putin propaganda machine works to militarize children.
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story
Harlem-based photographer, freedom fighter and activist Kwame Brathwaite took 500,000 photos across his 70-year career, always devoted to celebrating the joy and beauty of African American life. Brathwaite pioneered the idea that Black is Beautiful.
Cutting Through Rocks
Winner of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
Credits
Executive Producer
Marcos Loayza
Producer
Santiago Loayza Grisi, Federico Moreira
Cinematography
Barbara Alvarez
Editor
Fernando Epstein
Original Music
Cergio Prudencio
Art Director
Valeria Wilde
Director
Photo by Michael Dunn
Alejandro Loayza Grisi
Alejandro Loayza Grisi is a Bolivian filmmaker who began his artistic career in still photography and entered the world of cinema through cinematography. As a director of photography, he has worked on the documentary series Planeta Bolivia (2016) and on the short films, Polvo (2017), Dochera (2018), and Aicha (2019). He ventures into scriptwriting and directing with his first feature film, Utama.