''Altiplano'' is a 2009 film by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth starring

Magaly Solier Magaly Solier Romero (born 11 June 1986) is a Peruvian actress and singer. Magaly Solier Romero was born on 11 June 1986 in to a Quechua family, the province of Huanta, in the region of Ayacucho in Peru. She speaks the indigenous language o ...

Jasmin Tabatabai Jasmin Tabatabai ( fa, یاسمین طباطبائی ; born 8 June 1967 in Tehran, Iran, is a German actress and singer. Biography Jasmin Tabatabai's mother is German, and her father is Iranian. She was born and raised in Tehran until the 1979 ...

, and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse'' ...

. It takes places on three continents in five different languages. It tells the stories of two women in mourning and how their destinies merge.

Plot summary

Photographer Grace is devastated after being forced to take a picture of the killing of her guide in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Back in Belgium, she withdraws the picture after it had already been nominated for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

. Her husband Max is an oculist and leaves to work at an eye clinic in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in Peru. A local mine spills

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, causing many people of the nearby village of Turubamba to succumb to illness. Max and his fellow physicians suspect toxins to be the reason for the affliction. They decide to collect more data in Turubamba. Meanwhile, Saturnina, a young woman from the village loses her fiancé to the contamination. Upon the physicians' arrival, Saturnina's fiancé's mother angrily rejects the doctors' request to examine the body. The villagers turn their rage on the doctors and stone Max to death. Saturnina leads an unsuccessful demonstration against the mine's truck drivers. After the mine's closure, Saturnina commits suicide by drinking mercury and films her death on the camera Max had dropped when he was killed. Grace sets out on a journey to the place of Max's death. Saturnina's mother welcomes her and offers hospitality. Grace watches the video made by Saturnina. In the end, she partakes in Saturnina's funeral and finally ends her mourning over her husband.

Cast

as Saturnina *

as Grace *

as Max * Behi Djanati Ataï as Sami * Edgar Condori as Nilo/Omar * Sonia Loaiza as mother * Edgar Quispe as Ignacio * Norma Martinez as female doctor * Rodolfo Rodríguez as Raúl

Production

Shooting took place on locations in Belgium and Peru for 43 days between June and October 2008. Due to extreme weather conditions at an altitude of 5,000 metres in the Peruvian Andes, the crew and cast had access to a medical team 24 hours a day. Although the film is fictional, it is inspired by true events that took place in the year 2000 in a Peruvian village of Choropampa District. Furthermore, some characters like Saturnina and Max are also based on reports and anecdotes of local villagers and foreign doctors.

Reception and awards

The film has garnered mainly positive responses. It has also won a number of independent film awards: *

Bangkok International Film Festival The Bangkok International Film Festival (BKKIFF) ( th, เทศกาลภาพยนตร์นานาชาติกรุงเทพฯ) is an international film festival held annually in Bangkok, Thailand, since 2003. In addition to fi ...

2009: Special Golden Kinnaree Award for Environmental Awareness * Festival Film Europeen de

Virton Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; wa, Vierton) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the princ ...

2009: Prize of the City Virton * Lucania Film Festival 2010: Best Feature Film * Festival de Cinema de Avanca 2010: Best Feature Film * Festival de Cinema de Avanca 2010: Best Actress for Magaly Solier * International Film Festival

Tofifest The TOFIFEST International Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Toruń, Poland. It is one of the fastest growing film festivals in Poland and the mission of the Festival is to promote independent cinema. The festival comb ...

2010: Special Jury Award Altiplano was nominated for two

Magritte Award A Magritte Award (french: ) is an accolade presented by the Académie André Delvaux of Belgium to recognize cinematic achievement in the film industry. Modelled after the French César Award, the formal ceremony at which the awards are presented ...

s in the category of Best Film in Coproduction and Best Costume Design for Christophe Pidre and Florence Scholtes in 2011.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{rotten-tomatoes, Altiplano, Altiplano

(German)

, Peruvian drama films Belgian drama films 2009 films Environmental films 2000s Spanish-language films Quechua-language films 2000s French-language films 2000s English-language films 2000s Persian-language films First Run Features films 2009 multilingual films Belgian multilingual films