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Bolivian film Cielo, after winning international acclaim, comes home to cinemas
🇧🇴 Bolivia /Culture & Society

Bolivian film Cielo, after winning international acclaim, comes home to cinemas

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Cielo, a 107-minute Bolivia-UK fantasy film produced by Pucara Films and Luchadora Films, will open in Bolivian cinemas on Sept. 3.
  • The film was shot across Bolivia, including the Salar de Uyuni, the Altiplano and La Paz, after screening and receiving recognition at international festivals.
  • It follows eight-year-old Santa, who believes she can take her mother to heaven, and features Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda in her acting debut.

After traveling through festivals and cinemas in several countries, Cielo is returning to Bolivia for its national release on Thursday, Sept. 3. The film has received awards for its cinematography and acting, and its arrival is being presented as a homecoming for a distinctly Bolivian production.

Produced by Bolivia’s Pucara Films and the United Kingdom’s Luchadora Films, the 107-minute fantasy was written and directed by Alberto Sciamma. The entire film was shot in Bolivia, using locations that include the Salar de Uyuni, the Altiplano and the city of La Paz.

A Bolivian film with a story built from our landscapes, our geography and the enormous talent we have. A film that shows Bolivia is a filmmaking destination, with stories, settings and professionals capable of going very far.

— Gerardo GuerraThe distributor described the film’s Bolivian identity and the country’s filmmaking potential.

The story follows Santa, an eight-year-old girl who believes she can take her mother to heaven, a place she sees as real as any other. Along the way, she encounters a priest, a police officer and a group of female wrestlers. Reality, imagination and magical realism blend through the adventure.

A Bolivian fable of magical realism

— VarietyThe publication’s characterization of the film’s style and setting.

Gerardo Guerra, who is distributing the film in Bolivia through Londra Films, described it as “a Bolivian film with a story built from our landscapes, our geography and the enormous talent we have. A film that shows Bolivia is a filmmaking destination, with stories, settings and professionals capable of going very far.”

International critics have highlighted the same mix of fantasy and place. Variety called it “a Bolivian fable of magical realism,” praising its ambition, visual beauty and bittersweet charm. IndieWire included Cielo among the best films of 2026 at that point. Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda, who plays Santa, has also drawn attention for a natural and expressive debut that one international review called “nothing less than extraordinary.”

Nothing less than extraordinary

— International reviewThe review’s assessment of Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda’s acting debut.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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