Land and Shade

Alfonso left his family seventeen years ago. Hearing that his son is gravely ill, he comes back. He finds the house; the woman he abandoned still lives there, with her daughter-in-law and grandson. But the surroundings are unrecognisable: the house is stranded among sugarcane fields, ash from the burning of the cane before harvest falls constantly, and the air is closed. His son's illness comes from that ash. César Augusto Acevedo's first film is set in the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia. The narrative shows how industrial agriculture destroys a family without raising its voice; there is no rally and no explanation, only closed windows and ash being swept away again and again. The film takes place almost entirely inside the house and in the yard. The cinematography and the sound design are its main instruments. It won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Who it's for: Viewers who like Latin American cinema, slow drama, and narratives of environmental destruction. Who it's not for: Almost nothing happens and the pace is very slow. The ending offers no resolution either.