COCAINE PRISON (LOS BURRITOS) DOCS D: Violeta Ayala. Australia/Bolivia/France/U.S. 78 min. Sep 10, 4:15 pm, Scotiabank 11 Sep 12, 9:15 pm, Scotiabank 9 Sep 15, 3:15 pm, Scotiabank 14. Rating: NNN
The people who figure as the lowest common denominator in the Bolivian drug trade tell their own stories in Ayala’s doc.
She hands cameras to Mario and Hernan, two inmates in a dilapidated and overcrowded prison. Both come from rural areas where the prime commodity is cocoa leaves. Mario is charged with grinding the leaves and Hernan with being a mule. Both will wait years before seeing trial while their employers roam free.
The footage the two men take resembles a scrappy journal, like diaries scribbled down on toilet paper. Raw, intimate and sad.
