INSTITUTO DE CINE Y CREACIÓN AUDIOVISUAL DEL ECUADOR
 
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SACACHÚN
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Completed - SPANISH - Documentary - 74 minutes

Log Line

In the center of Sacachun, San Biritute looked impressive showing its ancestral nakedness carved in stone. They say it impregnated women and brought rain. 60 years ago, soldiers took him by force; since then, everything has changed.

Year of production : 2018

Director(s) : Gabriel PÁEZ
Writer(s) : Gabriel PAEZ
Cast : Arcadio BALON, Ambrosio TIGRERO, Matilde RAMÍREZ, Agripina LINO SUÁREZ, Ángela SUÁREZ

Producer(s) : Isabel RODAS (FILMARTE)

Synopsis

At the heart of the Ecuadorian coast, the village of Sacachun hides between cactus, holy-wood trees and dry hills. There are 50 houses, 26 of which are inhabited by a small group of seniors, the others are closed, their owners died or migrated.

In the centre of Sacachun, a false San Biritute welcomes the few who venture "deep inside" the hills. A badly made replica lies next to a guardhouse that seems to mean a "consolation prize". The original awaits his uncertain return to Sacachun in the cold room of a museum, next to many other abducted Gods.

Arcadio is 77 years old, he is Sacachun’s Baker, along with his neighbors he will tell us the story of his people: 60 years ago, Sacachun was different, rich in agricultural and livestock production, many people lived here. Sacachun was a paradise, until the day that San Biritute was kidnapped.

Brought from a nearby hill by the great-grandparents of those who are grandparents today, San Biritute represents the God of rain, harvest and fertility, an erect protruding penis characterizes it, the elders tell that naked women used to rub against the Idol to regulate their cycles and ask for their fertility.

One day, when Arcadio was a child, two trucks, sent by the mayor of Guayaquil, arrived loaded with soldiers who, at gunpoint, took San Biritute without explanation. Since then everything changed, it stopped raining, livestock died, crops and young people left, leaving a small handful of elders who are becoming less and for 60 years they only ask one thing: The return of San Biritute to Sacachun. Justin is 5 years old, he is the only child of the village, lives with his grandparents since his mother died, he is about to reach the age to go to school, which would make him the last migrant of Sacachun.

With time as antagonistic, between uncertainty and expectation, the few residents of Sacachun see the nights go by between the offers of the politicians on the return of San Biritute.

One day, San Biritute returns to Sacachun between the revelry of people, thousands of onlookers, cameras and politicians always ready to give their speech and offer their works. Arcadio sells a lot of bread and his children visit him to help him bake, it seems that life returned to Sacachún. A month later the miracle happens ...

Production

Country(ies) : ECUADOR

Financing plan : CNCine Ecuador
Ministry of Culture Ecuador
Prefectura de Santa Elena
Usina del Sur Uruguay
Satcom Ecuador


Start of shooting : November 2010

Festivals and Awards

Ventana Sur 2018 Video Library
IDFA 2018 (Docs For Sale)
la orquidea 2018 (Panorama Ecuatoriano)


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