Kiro Russo’s The Great Movement gets a UK release date

Sovereign Film Distribution is proud to announce the release of Kiro Russo’s prize-winning masterwork The Great Movement on 15 April in UK cinemas.

Bolivia, present-day. A young miner, Elder, makes a week-long trek to La Paz to demand the reinstatement of his and fellow workers’ jobs, better still to make it in the big city. But after finding work in a local market Elder suddenly falls ill, suffering frequent choking and shortness of breath, his mysterious ailment as sprawling and overwhelming as the city itself. A doctor says there is no cure, he is beyond help. As Elder deteriorates, he enlists the aid of the mysterious Mamá Pancha, who sends him to Max, a homeless witch doctor, hermit, and clown. Will Elder slip away, or can their otherworldly magic pull him from the brink and back to life?

Winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons strand at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, THE GREAT MOVEMENT is a fascinating and unique examination of the plight of the working class in the teeming Bolivian capital La Paz. As well as the prestigious Venice prize, the film has scooped awards at numerous film festivals, including the International Competition prize at the Bosphorus Film Festival, and Best Feature at FIDOCS; it has also screened at the ICA Frames of Representation Festival, and has been officially selected for the forthcoming Manchester Film Festival.

From its haunting opening montage, to the intense finale, traversing extraordinary urban landscapes Koyaanisqatsi-style along the way, Russo has fashioned a fever dream of a film that also explores the social fabric of his home city. The director says, “I imagined this story of illness and healing to take us into the heart of the social fabric of this city and reveal the lives of its invisibles.”

Using non-professional actors (headed by Julio Cezar Ticona as unemployed miner Elder) and filmed in a semi-documentary style, with a surreal and joyous dance sequence added to the mix, THE GREAT MOVEMENT a haunting, intoxicating and wonderfully surprising experience that plants Russo firmly on the filmmaker map as a rare and intriguing talent.