2008
COCA, TERROR AND THE INCA UPRISING
KOKA, TERROR UND DER INKA AUFSTAND
Colombia, Peru, Bolivia
52 min. tv documentary
author, director, camera: Marcel Kolvenbach
co-director: Judith Velez, Peru
production: ao buero
ZDF, ARTE, SVT
A road movie about coca farmers‘ fight for decriminalization and indigenous rights.
The streets of Bolivia, Peru and Colombia are burning. A new, militant indigenous movement has emerged. The uniting symbol is the coca leaf. The film follows Diana and Elsa, both active members of the Andean Council of Coca Leaf Producers. The council has taken on the task of fighting for the international decriminalization of coca and for the human rights of producers. Among the founders of the council, which was first convened in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1991, is the later Bolivian president, Evo Morales, who was himself a coca farmer for many years. The film documents the struggle of activists for the coca leaf. It also addresses cultural self-determination, human rights, social inclusion, and the right to a dignified life. The anti-drug campaign led and financially supported by the US is experienced by many of those affected as genocide against the indigenous population. However, representatives of the Peruvian anti-drug police and the only state-owned company for the commercialization of coca in Peru (ENACO) are also interviewed. The head of Base Santa Lucia, a Peruvian anti-drug unit, meets activist Malpartida, who is wanted in Peru at the time for terrorism. A political road movie on the trace of the Coca Revolution.