Blood of the Condor

Jorge Sanjines's 1969 Bolivian film is about a foreign aid organisation working in mountain villages. Under the name of health care it sterilises peasant women without their consent, and when this is understood the community answers in its own way. The film was shot in Quechua and most of the performers are villagers. Sanjines does not build the narrative around an individual hero; decisions are taken in community assemblies and the camera follows that collective voice. On the day of its release the cinema in La Paz was shut, and the screening went ahead only after the reaction that followed. The claims the film raised led to wide protests across Latin America and ended with the American volunteer programme being removed from Bolivia. Who it's for: those interested in Latin American political cinema and indigenous narratives. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a neutral presentation; the film takes a position openly and does not hide it.