Julia Vargas
Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo), Julia Vargas (2015)
Julia Vargas (1942-2018) was a Bolivian screenwriter, producer and film director. The most successful female photographer in Bolivia, her third feature film Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo) premiered at Havana, Palm Springs and the International Film Festival of India, where it won a Special Jury Prize. Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo) was selected as the Bolivian entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, but it was not selected.
In an exclusive interview with Filmatique, Julia Vargas discusses humor, ecology, indigenous representation in the Bolivian government and her next project.
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FILMATIQUE: Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo), which chronicles the attempt by corrupted officials to smuggle toxic chemicals into Chile, is based on true events from 1994. Can you provide some insight into this chapter of Bolivian history, including the cultural or political forces that might have precipitated this scandal?
JULIA VARGAS: In 1994 Bolivia was under a very strict neo-liberal regime that led to the privatization of many state companies and provoked important popular movements. The indigenous population, a numerical majority but a social and political minority, had no access to the government nor did they have any political power. Rather, most times they were discriminated against or treated with paternalism. But they were organized and very confrontational.
At that time the environment was not included in political proposals. It is known that toxic waste from first world countries were clandestinely transported to "garbage" countries with large deserted spaces and no state control, or maybe by way of authorities' complicity. This specific soil arrived as residual mineral to be processed, by 2 partners, one of which was in Europe. They broke up and left the material abandoned. The discovery of the contaminated soil by the villagers, and their anger, led to the scandal and further attempts to get rid of it.
FLMTQ: Has the situation in Bolivia improved since then??
JV: Bolivia has undergone a great and irreversible change since the first indigenous president took charge. The inclusion of indigenous peoples in the government at all levels led to strong participation and a positive class conscience. The Indian peasant serving the white landlord is history.
Because my story had to preserve the historic moment it differs from today's reality. The present government performs an ecological rhetoric about the protection of Mother Earth: very politically correct, but unfortunately absolutely by contradicted in the facts.
FLMTQ: What ultimately motivated you to tell this story? Were you drawn to the ecological message, or simply the fun of this particular caper film?
JV: Two aspects of the events that I was following in the news and in my research have motivated me. First of all I was interested in the ecological importance of the toxic waste traffic, and the state's disengagement. Nobody cared.
The interesting other aspect was human: the train was coming and going erratically for 13 days, and the policemen in charge were attacked, and forced to stay and share a locked space. They were ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. It was very appealing for a filmmaker, a good opportunity to capture characters' humanity.
Finally, as a photographer I wanted to share the beauty of the region where the events had taken place.
Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo), Julia Vargas (2015)