MURALLA Bolivia, 2018Director: Rodrigo “Gory” Patiño Spanish with English subtitles | 99 minInternational Hits
Preceded by BOULEVARDTuesday, August 27 | 9:15 PM | Cinematheque
Back in 1995, football goalkeeper Jorge “Muralla” Rivera became a local legend when he stopped a penalty kick that gave his underdog club the national championship. But now, more than twenty years later, he is a divorced alcoholic, barely making a living driving a taxi-bus in La Paz. The one light in his life is his son, who is gravely sick and needs a transplant operation that Jorge cannot afford. Desperate, Jorge accepts a job he has, until now, considered abhorrent: kidnapping drunk or drugged young people and delivering them to traffickers. Addressing the alarming rate of global human trafficking and the systems of power that uphold it, Muralla is a disturbing and thought-provoking drama. In 2018, it was the highest-grossing Bolivian film in 15 years.
Muralla narra la historia de Coco “Muralla” Rivera, un exfutbolista que alcanzó la gloria a mediados de los años 90 al parar un tiro penal que le dio el campeonato a su equipo. Más de veinte años más tarde, sobrevive a duras penas como chofer de taxi en La Paz mientras su hijo espera urgentemente un costoso trasplante. Desesperado por conseguir el dinero, Coco acepta una oferta de trabajo monstruosa. Muralla batió todos los récords de audiencia para una cinta boliviana en el 2018 y fue la cinta que representó a Bolivia en la Academia de los Oscar.
Reality motivates me to tell stories that touch on important issues that need to be discussed. An average of eight minors a day disappear in Bolivia. Human trafficking has become a cancer that generates more money than the illegal drug trade and is a global issue. – Rodrigo “Gory” Patiño, in an interview with Anna Marie de la Fuente, Variety
Bolivia’s Official Entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards, 2018
Filmography: Cielito Lindo (2010)