Venezuela has become the third Latin American country—after Ecuador and Panama—to select its candidate for Best International Film at the 93rd edition of the Academy Awards announcing the documentary film Once Upon a Time in Venezuela / Érase una vez en Venezuela as its candidate. The debut feature by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January and has been screening in numerous international film festivals since then.
The film is set at the small floating village of Congo Mirador on the edge of Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo. Now sinking into sediment, this once-prosperous fishing community is unraveling after years of criminal pollution and government neglect. Focusing on two fierce, independent women who epitomize opposing sides of this vulnerable community, Rodríguez Ríos’s film is a stunning microcosm of a global battle to safeguard cultural heritage and retain political relevancy.
Watch the trailer:
