Mi ciudad está filmando: street filmmaking in El Alto, Bolivia

• In Event: Imágenes de la Política y Políticas de la Imagen

Abstract

Due to the eruption of protests during the so-called Gas Wars of 2003, the city of El Alto, Bolivia, was thrust into the international spotlight as a hotbed of political activity and, in national terms, it became a political laboratory for the eventual projects of the Evo Morales’ presidency. It is not difficult to understand why Morales and the MAS government would want to establish El Alto, this impoverished city composed primarily of youth and indigenous immigrants, as an exemplar of “el proceso de cambio”. In a very literal sense, today one can see signs of these purported changes on graffitied walls that proclaim: “Mi ciudad está cambiando.” During these same years, a strong amateur filmmaking presence that has developed in the streets has considered the efficacy of these projects as well as offered alternative spaces for historically marginalized populations to engage with cinematic culture and its political possibilities. In this paper, I will offer a critical overview of several works that have emerged in recent years that may be seen as an interesting contribution to the political and cultural debate within the Bolivian State. While the box office success of Bolivian feature length films has stagnated, videos caseros such as “Pandillas de El Alto” (2010) and “El zorro y la pastora” (2011) have enjoyed massive distribution in the street markets of La Paz, making consideration of their content, modes of production, and patterns of spectatorship an essential means of understanding contemporary Bolivian political and social life.

Author

• Andrew Lantz, Texas A&M University