El enemigo principal
Overview
No stranger to controversy in his Bolivian homeland, Jorge Sanjines aims his films at his country's poor and working class in an attempt to inspire them to fight for equality and freedom. His best-known film is Yawar Mallku (Blood of the Condor) (1968), a scathing look at the terrible effects of U.S. imperialism on Bolivia's Indians. Sanjines worked as the director of the Bolivian Film Institute when he made his first feature, Ukamau, in 1965. A look at the plight of Andean peasants, he filmed it in Aymara, the local Indian language. The film caused controversy and he was fired from the Institute. A staunch leftist, Sanjines has gone on to make more films decrying the continued exploitation of the lower classes. Notable examples include El Coraje del Pueblo (The Courage of the People) (1971) and El Enemigo Principal (The Principal Enemy) (1973), which was released while Sanjines was exiled in Peru.