Frischluftkino: La Nacion clandestina

Jorge Sanjines, Bolivia 1989, 128 min.
Language: Spanish/Aymara with German subtitles

"La nacion clandestina" translates as "The Hidden Nation". The Bolivian filmmaker, who is one of the continent's most important filmmakers, is suggesting that in a country like Bolivia, whose social and political life has been shaped for centuries by the descendants of Spanish conquerors and their culture, there is still a strong inner "nation", that of the Aymara Indians. Although they were subjected to the laws, religion and economic exploitation of the conquistadors, they have survived the centuries surprisingly well thanks to their own resilient culture. Sanjines focuses on their world and creates a subtly woven picture in which time and space dissolve in favor of inner relationships. This requires an openness of perception, because the filmmaker moves freely between myth and reality, between past and present, in accordance with the Indio culture, in which the boundaries of time are fluid and the concept of time is a spatial one. This means that we do not see the action in a chronological sequence, but rather that events are depicted through movement. Sebastian, the main character of the film, once accused of theft and cast out by the village, does not find happiness in the city. He changes his name, swaps his poncho for jeans, earns his living with strange jobs and ends up homeless in alcohol. He wants to return home to die in an old Aymara dance ritual, to find himself and his honor again.

Fresh Air Cinema - Flyer

This year's Fresh Air Cinema series takes place under the motto "Domination. Resistance. Memory - Imperialism & Colonialism". Look forward to super exciting films!
Every Friday evening, from July 3 - September 4, 2026, on the terrace of the EineWeltHaus (indoors in case of rain).