After a long walk of several days, Elder, who some may recognize from the director’s debut feature Viejo Calavera, arrives in the capital of Bolivia with his colleagues from a mine to protest against the loss of their jobs. They decide to stay and try their luck in La Paz. The massive city is a daunting character in itself, and, unexpectedly, Elder starts feeling sick, out of breath, without strength … 

El Gran Movimiento brings forth a timely reflection on progress, economic oppression, precarity, work, and the neoliberal capitalist paradigm. It is a unique sensorial approach to the topics, blending a variety of genres and layers, shot on 16 mm, and reinvents the early 20^th century urban symphony genre that tackled the industrialization era.

An inspired reinterpretation that combines ethnography, cinéma vérité, choreography, magical realism, documentary and experimental form to capture the changing urban landscape of La Paz – a city in “metamorphosis” – through the experienced lives of those who live on its margins and are rarely given a starring role despite being the backbone to the great movement.

(Susana Santos Rodrigues)