Chaco

Severe military conflict was waged between 1932 and 1935 on Bolivia and Paraguay's border, occasioned by suspicions there might be oil. This historic drama about the Chaco war does not depict that bloody struggle, but that of a small Bolivian regiment wandering across the inhospitable, dry Chaco plain in 1934. The group of Bolivian, Aymara and Quichua indigenous soldiers is led by gruff German commander Hans Kundt. This European refuses to accept how fruitless his mission has become. Despite dwindling rations, dissidents and fights among his men, he is determined to continue. Isolation, despair and hunger grow with every day, every hellish march and hastily erected camp. The miserable war transforms into a battle with your own demons, all with scarcely a gunshot being heard in this sensuous film. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)