“One of our great desires is to take part in this cultural event, we sent the film and we hope to be selected because many friends have told me that it is an unmissable festival and a unique experience,” assured the young filmmaker in an interview with Prensa Latina.
Loayza believed that viewers from this continent should support the cinematic creations of the region and contribute to the consumption of continental cinema with their presence in cinemas.
“If we make more films and have a healthier market, we will be able to produce and screen more productions in our own language and culture,” he told this news outlet.
Regarding the international success of Utama since its participation in the US Sundance Festival in January this year, then in Europe and now with great acceptance by the Bolivian audience at its premiere in commercial theaters, Loayza expressed his great satisfaction.
“We were really looking forward to this moment and to know that people are reacting positively is very gratifying,” he commented on his first film.
He described the emotions he felt on the premiere night in this city when a family approached the production team and with tears in their eyes hugged and congratulated the protagonists who are not professional actors.
“The reception of the film in Bolivia is very pleasant and satisfying,” he reiterated.
He reported that the film has already taken part in 60 festivals abroad and won 29 awards, a result that makes him proud, given that this project he co-created with his father, the renowned filmmaker Marcos Loayza, and his brother Santiago has managed to give the world a place for Bolivian history that commands attention.
“We will have theatrical releases in a total of about 18 countries, the film is already showing in France, Great Britain, Germany, the United States, Italy, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Romania, the Czech Republic; and on our continent, in addition to Bolivia, it will soon be exhibited in Uruguay”.
Self-taught through the influence of his father, one of the most renowned directors in the Highlands, through many readings and “watching many films”, Loayza explained to Prensa Latina that the idea for the film came about during a long journey to his homeland.
“We made a series of trips around our country with the documentary Planeta Bolivia, we saw different realities and latitudes, and so the desire was born to tell the story of a unique and enormous love,” he recalled.
The young filmmaker defined his first feature film as a window to get to know Bolivia, explaining that in the Aymara language, Utama means our homeland.
Filmed in Potosí, the work tells the life of an elderly couple in the highlands, and in this scenario, a drought leaves them with the dilemma of whether to migrate or stay in order to survive, like the rest of the community.
Independent production, this production had funding from Bolivia, Uruguay and Spain.
memory/jpm