Utama

Utama, the debut feature of director Alejandro Loayza Grisi, is a Bolivian film about Virginio and Sisa, an elderly Quechua couple living on the Bolivian altiplano, facing an unusually long drought. "Utama" means "our home" in Quechua. The leads are played by José Calcina and Luisa Quispe, a real life married couple with no acting experience, discovered by the director during a location scout, living a life not unlike the one they portray on screen. The film won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and became Bolivia's Oscar submission. Who it's for: anyone curious about a Sundance award winning Bolivian film starring a real married couple with no acting experience playing an elderly Quechua couple battling drought. Who it's not for: those wanting a polished, professionally acted production, since the film's power comes from amateur performers living a story close to their own lives.