Directed by Alvaro Olmos Torrico, THE CONDOR DAUGHTER tells the story of Clara, a teenager growing up in a small indigenous community high in the Andes. Her adoptive mother, a midwife who took her in as a baby, has taught her the ancient songs used to guide women through childbirth, melodies passed down for generations, believed to bring new life safely into the world. But while her voice carries on this tradition, her dreams lie elsewhere: she longs to leave the mountains behind and become a folkloric music star in the big city.
Director’s statement
During a journey through the mountains in the heart of the Bolivian Andes, I met a Quechua midwife. I was told she was the last one in the region, and that deeply caught my attention. For a while, I visited her regularly and learned to communicate with her, mainly through glances and expressions. Not long after, she passed away, and I came to understand the vital role traditional midwives play in the birth cycles of rural communities. Their presence is essential to passing down traditional and cultural Indigenous values, even those that may seem contradictory or timeless to us.
“La Hija Cóndor” was filmed in the same community where that midwife lived, among the same mountains and paths she used to walk. Writing this film has been an intense journey of research and reconnection with the land—it’s a story about time, about gazes, about sound and silence, about countryside and city, about life and death. It was very special to collaborate with Nicolás Wong Díaz as Cinematographer. I feel he faithfully captured the essence of what I wanted to convey—that delicate chiaroscuro drawn by the light filtering through windows, highlighting the texture and skin of the characters during the night or in the birthing scenes. I want to acknowledge the commitment of the cast of non- professional actors who took part in the film, especially the two protagonists, who had never acted before and showed great courage during emotionally demanding and complex scenes throughout the shoot. Their remarkable work has made us want to collaborate with them again in future projects.
