Utama review: Bolivian highlanders weather the climate crisis

The silhouette of a man striding across a dark and barren plain towards an inferno-like sunrise beyond the mountains. This is the hypnotising opening shot from former photographer Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s first feature. A disconcerting, nearly ominous background score of Bolivian folk instruments – pan flutes, percussion and lute – lingers as the man treads on towards the horizon. The screen blacks out and we are shown ‘utama’ – ‘our home’ in Quechuan dialect – the abode of an elderly shepherd couple in Altiplano whose tranquil rural life is withering away as a result of the climate crisis. 

Highlighting the impact of environmental collapse on the indigenous communities in the Bolivian highlands, a scenery rarely shown in cinema, Utama follows the life of Virginio and Sisa (played by real-life couple and non-professional actors José Calcina and Louisa Quispe), whose already challenging subsistence lifestyle becomes a treacherous struggle for survival in the wake of an extended drought. While a continually coughing Virginio grazes llamas, Sisa walks miles to fetch water – a task made all the more arduous as the well in the village has dried up, and the ice for water from the mountains has vanished.

Experiencing the devastating erosion of their land, the couple faces a piercing dilemma. They can either stay on in a now fully arid highlands and hold on to their traditional ways of life with the bare minimum to survive. Or they can choose to abandon the space like many around them, let go of Quechua culture and move to the city with their grandson Clever, who arrives to convince them to do so. 

Emotionally understated performances by the main characters sketch in the deeply loving relationships between husband and wife, grandparents and grandson. Clever’s constant use of his phone as his grandparents fulfil daily tasks highlights the divide between urban and rural lives, age and youth. There’s a slow, sombre cadence to the narrative; the feeling that loss is ubiquitous in the land, air and water, but a greater loss is drawing near.

The polished, immersive cinematography by Barbara Alvarez (The Headless Woman) features strikingly beautiful wide shots of the highlands, miles of sunbaked and cracked soil, herds of llamas travelling across them, a sliver of a river running near the village and mountains. Yet it avoids falling into the trap of ethnographic romanticisation of the Bolivian scenery. Instead, the dying scenery captures the indifference of the land to human needs, conveying a cautionary tale. 

While Sisa takes these signs from nature as a prompt for the couple to depart, Virginio is adamant not to leave home – despite his hacking cough and the realisation that his land and heritage are dying. This is harrowingly conveyed in a powerful, almost still shot: as Virginio is on the mountain trail in search of water to perform a sacred sacrifice in hope of rainfall, he stops at a landing. His head covering the chasm between two mountain summits, Virginio recites: “You’re dying. You’re dying. You’re dying.”

Utama is not unique in depicting the plight of communities deeply affected by the climate crisis. But it sensitively tackles its characters’ personal connection to their land and cultural roots. In showing the emotional turmoil that comes with having such a home ravaged, the film honours ways of life on the verge of extinction. In a profoundly elegiac manner, it ennobles those who remain rooted, with dignity, even as the end creeps on.

Utama screened at the 66th BFI London Film Festival.

Now in its fifth year, the LFF Critics Mentorship Programme continues to look at how we can better serve writers from underrepresented communities. It offers an opportunity for emerging critics to develop their film writing skills and have a chance to be mentored by industry media professionals in order to help pave the way to future opportunities for paid work in the media.

This year six mentees took part in an intensive four-day programme of screenings and events at the start of the festival, mentored both as a group by co-lead mentors Akua Gyamfi (founder, The British Blacklist) and Amon Warmann (contributing editor, Empire, co-host Fade to Black) as well as being individually paired with LFF media partners at Empire, The Face, Little White Lies, Sight and Sound, Screen and Time Out for one-on-one mentoring and to help produce pieces of film journalism for their portfolio.

The mentees had full access to press screenings and events throughout the festival to write reviews and features, plus additional interview access with filmmakers and an array of guest speaker sessions and opportunities to network.