Screening – President Evo

In 2005, Evo Morales made history by becoming the first indigenous person to be president of Bolivia.

He was elected on the promise that he would get the poor indigenous people that make up 60 per cent of the population out of poverty through a revolution in democracy.

Evo never imagined that this promise would lead to the worst period of socio-political instability that the country has seen for decades.

His election promises – to lift the poor indigenous majority out of poverty and share the country’s resources more equitably – were met with huge opposition from the wealthy land-owning minority of European descent.

Filmmaker Rodrigo Vazquez spent three years following Morales, from his presidential campaign through the years of bitter struggle for constitutional and economic reform.

The film follows his rise to power and his first three years in government. The business elite, the corporate media and the landowners violently oppose the president’s plan to redistribute the nation’s wealth amongst the have-nots.

Peaceful peasant demonstrations turn into confrontations with right-wing paramilitary forces, there are battles between the rich and the poor.

The filmmakers’ unique access to Evo Morales reveals a dramatic story of power struggles, street battles and strategic alliances. But mostly it is about the power of democracy itself.