UKAMAU Y KÉ!  THAT’S HOW IT IS, AND WHAT!
Bolivia/Equador, 2017
Aymara & Spanish with English subtitles | 86 min 
Director: Andrés Ramírez

Thursday, August 30th 
9pm @ Vancity Theatre

Andino hip hop artist Abraham Bojórquez (Ukamau y Ké) shook the Bolivian music scene with his socially conscious lyrics sung in Aymara and his charismatic performance style. He died violently in 2009 when he was just 27 years old, at the peak of his musical career. Ecuadorian rapper and director Andrés Ramírez, returns to Bolivia to uncover the reasons for his friend’s death and the legacy left by this intensely creative soul. As his journey unfolds, Ukamau y Ké comes back to life through archive video footage, interviews, and dream visions.

During all this time I’ve seen plenty of dead.
This has made me, a rebel with a cause.

My race has survived this for more than 500 years.
If our people don’t unite, we will end up destroyed equally…

This is Latin America,

This is Andean America.

Abraham Bojórquez – Ukamau Y Ké desarrolló el llamado hip hop en lengua aymara, con su lírica rebelde estremeció a la sociedad latinoamericana de inicios del siglo XXI. Murió violentamente en la cúspide de su carrera musical el mismo día en que terminaba la grabación de su segundo disco. Años después su amigo, el rapero y director ecuatoriano Andrés Ramírez, regresa a Bolivia para develar las razones de su muerte y para buscarlo a través de la temporalidad circular andina. En este viaje surreal Ukamau y Ké vuelve a la vida mediante archivos, testimonios y visiones oníricas.

Andrés’ Filmography: Ukamau y Ké! (2017)

Andrés Ramírez is a photographer, documentary film maker and founder of the Audiovisual Production Company ProductOtra. His documentary UKAMAU Y KÉ won the award from The National Film Council Board of Funds in Ecuador (CNCINE) for script writing in 2012, and for production and postproduction in 2014. He also won an award in the international contest Ventana Andina in 2013 with the documentary RIMAS Y COLORES EN LA FRONTERA NORTE (Andean Community of Nations 2013).

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