Cinema Mentiré presents a collection of recent Bolivian films at The Garden Cinema.

On the occasion of the Bicentenary of Bolivia’s independence in 2025, join Cinema Mentiré and The Garden Cinema to explore a hand-picked selection of recent gems that testify to the prosperity of Bolivian cinema in the last decade. Cinema Mentiré has brought together three very different feature-length films that offer a taste of the new, groundbreaking narratives exploring a changing nation that is also dealing with its enduring past traumas. The programme kicks off with The Visitor, a quietly scathing reflection on power, manipulation and fractured family ties, winner of the Best Screenplay Award at Tribeca. It will be followed by the first-person documentary Puerto Escondido, a playful meditation on Bolivia’s relationship with a lost sea, including geopolitical conflicts and other sensitive hydropolitical issues. Chaco, premiered at Rotterdam and Bolivia’s official submission to the Academy Awards, transports us to wartime, through the experience of a platoon that wanders in the immensity of the landscape amidst the contradictions of any armed conflict, delving into the B side of an epic national narrative. The season also presents a fun-filled selection of animated short films by the collective BOMBA Animada, displaying the rich cultural heritage and artistic expressions of Bolivian animation and storytelling, in an event designed for the whole family.

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.