Altiplano (2009)

A former war photographer and her physician husband are caught up in a riot when locals in an Andean village vent their unhappiness with contamination from a nearby mine.

Directors:

Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth (as Jessica Hope Woodworth)

Writers:

Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth (as Jessica Hope Woodworth)

Stars:

Magaly Solier, Jasmin Tabatabai, Olivier Gourmet

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Magaly Solier	...	Saturnina
Jasmin Tabatabai	...	Grace
Olivier Gourmet	...	Max
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arturo Anacarino Zarate	...	Orlando
Malku Choquehuillca	...	Malku
Edgar Condori	...	Nilo / Omar (as Edgar Alcides Condori)
Behi Djanati Atai	...	Sami
Kian Khalili	...	Reza
Sonia Loaiza	...	Luz
Hermelinda Luján	...	Rufina
Norma Martínez	...	Mercedes
Andreas Pietschmann	...	Paul
Antonio Quevedo	...	Un soldat (as Marco Antonio Quevedo)
Edgar Quispe	...	Ignacio
Rodolfo Rodríguez	...	Raúl

Storyline

War photographer Grace, devastated after a violent incident in Iraq, renounces her profession. Her Belgian husband, Max, is a cataract surgeon working at an eye clinic in the high Andes of Peru. Nearby, the villagers of Turubamba succumb to illnesses caused by a mercury spill from a local mine. Saturnina, a young woman in Turubamba, loses her fiancé to the contamination. Ignorant of its true source, the villagers turn their rage on the foreign doctors, and in the ensuing riot Max is killed. Grace sets out on a journey of mourning to the place of Max's death. Saturnina takes drastic measures to protest against the endless violations towards her people and her land. Grace and Saturnina's destinies merge. ALTIPLANO is a lyrical and probing film about our divided but inextricably linked world.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | one word title | 

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Taglines:

A lyrical tragedy about sacrifice and redemption in the Andes.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Belgium Germany Netherlands France

Language:

Spanish Quechua French English Persian

Release Date:

20 August 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fragments of Grace

Filming Locations:

Abbaye, Villers-le-Ville, Brabant Wallon, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,269, 22 August 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,754, 4 October 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktion, Bo Films, CFWB

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Award: Grand Prix du 30ème Festival du Cinéma Européen de Virton 2009 (Belgium).

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, part II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo
Composed by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki

User Reviews

An ordinary film which merges three different stories to speak about our world's sufferings.

It has been noticed that films which deal with multiple themes often fail to strike a chord in viewers' minds. It is due to the fact that while watching films,most viewers have a limited attention span which gets impaired when an endless array of plots and subplots is revealed.Belgian film "Altiplano" suffers enormously from this fate as the richness of its themes cause active viewers to question whether there is something which will tie these loose themes or they have just been included in order to get an opportunity to speak about world's problems.The main reason to watch this film is Olivier Gourmet-a famous Belgian actor who has acted in various well made,offbeat as well as excellent commercial films.Apart from Olivier Gourmet's presence viewers might develop a liking for the film's South American setting where visually rich religious imagery characterizes the behavioral patterns of its inhabitants.Finally,how human beings reach out to each other in times of grief is one of this film's recurring leitmotif.Film critic Mr.Lalit Rao saw this film during 18th European Film Festival 2013 which was held at Alliance Française De Bangalore.