Out of five million Costa Ricans, just over 100,000 belong to the country’s eight indigenous groups. Under a 1977 law, 24 areas of the country are protected as indigenous territories. However, illegal land grabbing often occurs to create space for agriculture, energy production or tourist attractions.
The film shows the daily life of a Terraba community that resists the expropriation and destruction of their rightful territories. They recultivate burned fields, reforest, build huts, and live off of fishing as well as the sparse products from their fields. The management of the territories is in the hands of the “Association”, which, however, consists of non-indigenous people and accordingly does not protect their interests. Adan and Byron, the protagonists of the film, strive to strengthen their inner unity and identity as Terraba. Byron travels to Panama to the country of origin of the Terribe, seeking self-assurance and experiencing the strenuous transport of a large canoe over a mountain to the river. It is a great collective effort and likewise a poignant image of the strength needed to resist.
Just recently in February 2021, a land activist was murdered in Costa Rica— one of many cases that goes unpunished.
Claudio Carbone studied social architecture in Rome, continued his studies in the field of social movements at various universities of sociology (Brazil, Portugal, Costa Rica), and is currently doing a PhD in development studies at the University of Social Sciences in Lisbon. After his short and middle-length films CIELITO REBELDE (2016), ROSSO VIVO (2017) and ANOTHER LISBON STORY (2017), HASTA QUE MUERA EL SOL is his first feature documentary.
Director, cinematography, sound: Claudio Carbone
Editing: Cláudia R. Oliveira, Bruno M. Cabral, Claudio Carbone
Composer: Andre David
Sound design: Miguel M. Cabral
With Adan Najera Rivera, Byron Reyes Ortiz
Production: Garden Films, Bruno M. Cabral
Contact: bruno.cabral@gardenfilms.net
