Hard Light Cinema

🌟 NEW RELEASES

Since her astonishing debut film La Ciénaga in 2001, Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel has consistently pushed the envelope in terms of cinematic content and quality. Many of her films examine class and gender relations within Argentina, though they can be seen subtextually as a condemnation of colonialism. Here at Hard Light HQ, we’ve been highlighting her past work thanks to our partnership with Richmond Public Libraries. Both The Headless Woman and Zama are towering achievements in her career, but her new film, Our Land (Nuestra Tierra) stands apart as her first foray into documentary work.

Our Land is a documentary that Martel spent several years creating. After the 2009 murder of indigenous community leader Javier Chocobar (literally caught on video), protests broke out for nine years before any kind of court proceeding began. Martel’s documentary uses photographs, vocal testimony from Chocobar’s community members, courtroom footage, and haunting drone footage shot by Martel of the very land that is being debated.

Martel’s film poses several questions: What IS Argentina? Who does Argentina belong to? How can we define indigineity in the 21st century? What does the process of returning land back to indigenous people look like?

In her narrative work, Martel has largely worked political messaging in with metaphor or suggestion. Our Land stands apart as a staunchly political film from beginning to end. Her fifth feature in her 25-year career, Our Land proves that every Martel feature is an event unto itself. Please join us at Studio Two Three on May 21st for this fantastic film.

— Lewis Peterson, Hard Light Cinema