Cholitas

This was a beautiful film, both because of the stunning views of the Andes mountains and because of the unvarnished authenticity of the women sharing their lives. The "cholitas" themselves are also striking to observe in their decorative attire--worn even when climbing the tallest mountains in the Americas.

My only complaint is that I wish there were more. The roughly one hour runtime means that we get to spend less time with each of the women than is ideal. All five women have rich stories, yet we get only glimpses of them. I want to learn more about their origins, and likewise would love to hear more about where they headed next.

Worth the watch.

Getting home after travelling to see Kate Mosse at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre with her fascinating three hour show Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World , I decided to watch one of the films in the WOW Film Festival online line-up before bed. In the mood for a documentary, I got set to climb Aconcagua.

View on the film:

Following the five women every step of the way, co-editors (with Migueltxo Molina) co-directors Jaime Murciego & Pablo Iraburu display every breath-taking corner of Aconcagua with drone shots looking from high above at the harsh weather the women are fighting through, and jagged hand-held camera moves stay right by the side of the climbers, looking out towards each of the beautiful mountainsides.

Stepping off the mountains, the directors capture the rhythm of the lives of the women with a fast editing style of whip-pans over their daily lives, which the directors / editors wonderfully flip, with long take wide-shots being held on each woman discussing what Aconcagua means to her.

Limiting the amount of narration used, the directors instead place emphasis on capturing on the spot reactions, which builds an intimate, reflective atmosphere, via each of the climbers discussing the importance of where they hold nature in their lives, and also detailing how much of a departure this event is from their mundane lives, as they begin to climb Aconcagua.