Main content

Cerro Rico Tierra Rica

View on the Pragda STREAM site

The daily rituals of two mining communities are observed in this strikingly visual and unsparing portrait of life and work in Bolivia's altiplano, at an altitude of fourteen thousand feet. More than ten thousand miners still excavate the slopes and tunnels of the richest silver field in mining history, Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), an enormous conical mountain in the Andes that towers over the city of Potosí. The miners' lives offer a strong denunciation of the hardships and alienation inherent in industrial work inside the mines, underscoring the historical impact on the native population created by global demands for earth's wealth. Shot in iconic Potosí and Cerro Rico and, as a counterpart, in the Arctic-looking plains of Salar de Uyuni, where salt is extracted daily and where half of the world's lithium reserves remain untapped.

Related Films

The Three Roses

This poignant tale portrays the enduring power of love against odds, weaving…

Crossing the Andes, Ep. 01 - The Man-Eating Mountain

So much silver has been extracted from Potosí, you could use it to build…

Red Gold

An exploration into the Moroccan women's protest in Huelva's strawberry…