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"Nuestro Señor de los Milagros Our Lord of the Miracles, is the name of a swamp-glittering prison colony in the remote Peruvian jungle on the Rio Sepa. This is the dumping ground where the worst prisons in the country send their toughest of the tough. A bizarre island of freedom where tragedy and absurdity create a close-in world seemingly invented from feverish dreams. Here are murderers who survived the taking of hostages and the subsequent massacre at Lurigancho prison (documented in the film), and prisoners who have done 8 years extra time simply because their release papers were lost; there is one who fought his way from the highlands on foot, taking weeks to get here to serve his sentence. There is also a headhunter, a drug boss and 'el Invisible', the invisible one. The 65 year old, half deaf prison director, Don Elias, in tropical clothing, and wearing a straw hat, calls them all 'mis angelitos', my little angels." -Werner Herzog
Having languished in a closet for more than 30 years, this newly rediscovered film is a unique documentary record of a bold and troubling experiment in criminal justice. A collaboration in between Walter Saxer, the producer of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, and the Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, Sepa: Our Lord of Miracles observes an open-air penal colony of the same name, created in 1951 by the Peruvian government in the Amazonian jungle. Tasked with growing crops on these colonized lands, the inmates were permitted to roam freely, commune with their families, and dance and cook together, yet they soon found themselves in despair, abandoned and forgotten by their country and the world at large.
Restored in 4K by Cinematheque Suisse and Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with the Ministerio de Cultura del Peru at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory starting from the original 16mm camera negative and the sound preserved at Yacumama Films.
directed by: Walter Saxer
starring: Mario Vargas Llosa / Narrator
1987 / 79 min / 1.33:1 / Spanish, English, German DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.4761906 / 5 from 21 reviews.
Review topics: ["documentary","film","place","prisoners","doc","story"].
"I randomly added this documentary film to my order, but I found it very entertaining. The film follows the prisoners of a Peruvian prison colony for five days. The colony is a very interesting place and makes one wonder if it's better or worse than the overcrowded, more traditional prisons."
"This really engaging movie takes place in a very bleak place. Movies about prisoners are usually interesting and often bleak, and this one fits both bills. The documentary is well worth the price of admission. The peerless VS restoration process was on full display with stellar sound and picture! Thank you, VS, for continuing to lovingly restore and release so many wonderful films from every conceivable genre! You are keeping physical media alive in this streaming world we now live in! Highly recommended!"
"What a fascinating documentary about a place you've probably never heard of. Very hands-off quality to the actual doc, in service of feeling very real and lived-in. Unfortunately, this also means it sort of meanders off at the end, but the subject(s) alone are interesting enough to carry the whole thing."
"Outstanding restoration, extras and packaging. A truly beautiful release that’s tailor made for me. VS Partner Labels were made for films like Sepa!"
"A stark, deeply human look at life on Sepa, where faith, punishment, and daily survival are tightly intertwined. The sense of place is incredibly strong, and the film stays observational instead of preachy, which makes it even more affecting. An important document of a world most of us will never see firsthand."
"This gem of a documentary has an amazing backstory, having to do with location scouting for Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo. " I don't want to spoil that story here in the review. This is a melancholy, existential look at isolation, bureaucratic corruption, and the nobility of ideas vs the disappointment of their execution. Highly recommended. The interviews and essays are fantastic (though the microphones might have been better)."
"An interesting premise that you get the full idea from 20 minutes in. Art isn't great either."
"Unique documentary about a penal colony in the Peruvian Amazon. Very interesting watch from 1987."
"A lost documentary by Walter Saxer a guy who produced many of Werner Herzog's most famous films. A perfect time capsule of a place thats an open-air penel colony. A must watch, I'm happy this film was discovered after all these years."
"Really interesting glimpse into a failed attempt at prison reform."
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