Utama

Utama is a 2022 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Alejandro Loayza Grisi in his directorial debut film. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022 and was released in French theaters on May 11, 2022. It was selected as the Bolivian entry for the 95th Academy Awards for the Best International Feature Film award.^[3]

Utama
Film poster
Directed by	Alejandro Loayza Grisi
Written by	Alejandro Loayza Grisi
Produced by	Santiago Loayza Grisi Marcos Loayza Federico Moreira
Starring	Luisa Quispe José Calcina Santos Choque
Cinematography	Barbara Alvarez
Edited by	Fernando Epstein
Music by	Cergio Prudencio
Production company	Alma Films
Release dates	January 22, 2022 (2022-01-22) (Sundance) May 11, 2022 (2022-05-11) (France)
Running time	87 minutes
Countries	Bolivia Uruguay France
Languages	Quechua Spanish
Box office	$226,854[1][2]

Plot

An elderly Quechua-speaking couple lives in the Altiplano, the arid high plateau of the Andes, and the sick Virginio, knowing that he is about to die, spends his last days hiding this condition from his wife Sisa. A long life together has marked the life of the Quechua couple.

Together they are busy with tasks like grazing their llamas. His house is surrounded by high mountains. Virginio often looks at the sky and hopes that it will rain. Since there has been an extended period of drought and the village well is empty, Sisa has to walk to the river every day. Women from surrounding villages also flock to the last remaining spring.

One day they receive a visit from their grandson Clever, who brings news from the city. His grandparents conspicuously argue in Quechua over Clever's motives for visiting; he speaks to them in Spanish. Clever wants his grandparents to pack up and move to join the family to the city, where the sick Virginio can be examined and treated.^[4]

Clever and Virginio go to the mountains with nearby villagers and they perform a ritual to bring rain back to the land. Afterwards, the frustrated villagers debate the solutions to their drought, many opting to leave for the city.

During his shepherding Virginio falls unconscious. Clever finds him and brings him back to a worried Sisa, who asks him to disclose his mysterious cough. Virginio worries that Sisa will be alone, once he passes and he would rather have her come with him to the afterlife than to move to the city. Clever confronts him about his selfishness; they argue and Clever leaves the village. He soon returns with a doctor, who tries to convince Virginio to come to the city to get treated. A defeated Virginio refuses. He remains silent about dying but encounters many motifs around death including a dehydrated llama, a condor, and the news of Clever becoming a father, which he overhears. Virginio discretely makes plans to give Clever a tin box filled with photos and bits of gold. He gives Clever the box as well as his hat the day before he peacefully dies in his sleep.

The neighboring villagers attend Virginio's funeral. Clever gets ready to return to the city; he says goodbye to Sisa and she asks him to visit her often. Under the thundering sky, the widowed Sisa shepherds the llamas.

Release

The first screenings of the film took place on January 22, 2022 at the Sundance Film Festival.^[5] It was released in French cinemas on May 11, 2022. At the end of June 2022 it was shown at the Munich Film Festival.^[6] The film was released in Swiss cinemas on June 23, 2022.^[4] In early July 2022, the film was shown at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Horizons section and in late July 2022 at the New Horizons International Film Festival.^[7] Performances at the Leipzig Film Art Fair were scheduled for September 2022.^[8] In October 2022 it was presented at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival.^[9][10] The film was scheduled for release in German cinemas in January 2023.^[11]

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 46 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "With breathtaking cinematography and naturalistic performances, Utama touchingly captures love and tradition in times of climate change."^[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[13]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Sundance Film Festival	January 30, 2022	World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic	Alejandro Loayza Grisi	Won	[14]
Málaga Film Festival	March 27, 2022	Golden Biznaga for Best Iberoamerican Film	Utama	Won	[15]
		Best Director	Alejandro Loayza Grisi	Won
		Special Critics Award		Won
		Best Music	Cergio Prudencio	Won
Sydney Film Festival	June 19, 2022	Sydney Film Prize	Utama	Nominated	[16][17]
		Sustainable Future Award	Alejandro Loayza Grisi, Santiago Loayza Grisi, Federico Moreira, Alpha Violet	Nominated
Guadalajara International Film Festival	June 20, 2022	Best Iberoamerican Film	Alejandro Loayza Grisi	Nominated	[18]
		Best Screenplay		Won	[19]
		Best First Feature		Won
		Jorge Cámara Award		Won
Beijing International Film Festival	August 20, 2022	Tiantian Award	Alejandro Loayza Grisi	Nominated	[20]
		Best Supporting Actor	Santos Choque	Won
Hong Kong International Film Festival	August 31, 2022	Golden Firebird Award - Young Cinema	Utama	Nominated	[21]
Film Fest Ghent	October 20, 2022	North Sea Port Audience Award		Nominated	[22]
Forqué Awards	December 17, 2022	Best Latin-American Film		Nominated	[23][24]
International Film Festival of Kerala	December 16, 2022	Best Film Award		Won	[25]
Goya Awards	February 11, 2023	Best Ibero-American Film		Nominated	[26]
Platino Awards	April 22, 2023	Best First Feature Film		Nominated	[27]
		Best Original Score	Cergio Prudencio	Won
		Best Cinematography	Barbara Álvarez	Won
		Best Sound	Federico Moreira	Nominated
		Film and Education Values	Utama	Nominated
Rolling Stone en Español Awards	October 26, 2023	Fiction Feature Film of the Year		Nominated	[28]
		Direction of the Year	Alejandro Loaysa Grisi	Nominated

See also

• List of submissions to the 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
• List of Bolivian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film