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A lone protester holds a handwritten sign and a Bolivian flag on the altiplano.

Feature documentary, 2023

La Lucha

A group of people with disabilities in Bolivia unite in protest for a pension. They trek the Andes in their wheelchairs. They confront a government that tries to silence them and a society indifferent to their struggle.

Year
2023
Kind
Feature documentary
Length
90 minutes
Director
Violeta Ayala
Producers
Redelia Shaw, Dan Fallshaw
Production
United Notions Film

Watch the filmVisit the film's website

Play the trailer

Press

  • “This is a hell of a tale. It’s a magnificent tale about the fight for what is right. I was moved.”
    Steve Kopian, Unseen Films
  • “The heroes featured here show the full swath of how a fight like this can both elevate and break down the human spirit and makes 'The Fight' be a title with two meanings; the fight against the system, and the fight to not give up.”
    Juan J. Arroyo, Rolling Stone
  • “An artful witness to a revolution and involve us all.”
    Anita Hollander, actress
People in wheelchairs and on crutches face a line of riot police with shields.
People in wheelchairs and on crutches face a line of riot police with shields.
A woman in a pink hat speaks into a megaphone.
A woman in a pink hat speaks into a megaphone.
A man in a green hat and blue sunglasses stands in front of police shields.
A man in a green hat and blue sunglasses stands in front of police shields.
People in wheelchairs travel along a mountain road. One of them waves. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
People in wheelchairs travel along a mountain road. One of them waves. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A filmmaker kneels with a camera beside men in wheelchairs. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A filmmaker kneels with a camera beside men in wheelchairs. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
Marchers rest beside the road under a deep blue sky. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
Marchers rest beside the road under a deep blue sky. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
Poster of La Lucha.
Poster of La Lucha.
A long line of people in wheelchairs and on foot carries Bolivian flags across the altiplano. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A long line of people in wheelchairs and on foot carries Bolivian flags across the altiplano. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A person carries a camera across the altiplano. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A person carries a camera across the altiplano. The march to La Paz, Bolivia, 2016.
A crowd watches an outdoor screen in a plaza at night.
A crowd watches an outdoor screen in a plaza at night.
A woman wrapped in a pink blanket sits in a wheelchair at night.
A woman wrapped in a pink blanket sits in a wheelchair at night.
A woman in a wheelchair speaks into a microphone.
A woman in a wheelchair speaks into a microphone.
A woman in a wheelchair raises her fist.
A woman in a wheelchair raises her fist.
A full plaza watches a film on an outdoor screen at night. The Bolivian premiere of La Lucha, in a central plaza, 2024.
A full plaza watches a film on an outdoor screen at night. The Bolivian premiere of La Lucha, in a central plaza, 2024.

Premieres

  • World premiere

    BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, 2023

  • Australian premiere

    SXSW Sydney, 2023

  • New York premiere

    ReelAbilities Film Festival and the Museum of the Moving Image

  • Award

    NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing

  • Bolivian premiere

    The central plazas of Cochabamba, La Paz and Potosí, 2024, with sign language interpretation

  • Broadcast

    PBS, 2024

United Notions Film presents La Lucha directed by Violeta Ayala produced by Redelia Shaw and Dan Fallshaw

The Fight

The short film of that same march, made in 2017. Released worldwide by The Guardian.

Watch The Fight at The GuardianSee all the work