Director's Note

ORO VERDE - Green Gold

A film by Christian C. Keil, Sarah Jung and René Peralta D.

Bolivia is a beautiful country characterized by great cultural and natural diversity. Despite this richness, still today it is the poorest nation in South America. Regarding the large mineral and natural gas deposits the country is sometimes referred to as "the beggar on the golden throne". Since the Spanish conquer almost 500 years ago, the indigenous majority was excluded from political decision-making and the benefits of the country's natural resources. A "dual society" became the result, in which a white minority of up to 15% of the total population ruled the rest of the nation. At the beginning of the 21st Century, an increasing indigenous awareness and ongoing frustration is leading to open confrontations with the socio-economic establishment. It is also a conflict between the dominant modern lifestyle - characterized by urbanity, capitalism, competition and individualism - and the subordinated traditional way of life - based upon rural habits and values, such as barter trade, solidarity and collectivism. The ongoing conflict around coca and cocaine is an example for a complex problem arising from this duality of lifestyles and for the peasants' struggle against external domination.
Our objective was to understand, to capture and to present the theme "Coca in Bolivia" through the eyes of different opinions, creating an adequate and authentic picture of social reality in order to illuminate tenacious stereotypes. In particular, we have come to understand that the coca leaf itself is neither a drug nor just the raw material for cocaine production but a fascinating plant and an unused natural resource.

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