Synopsis
Middle-aged Roque gets kicked out of his parents’ house into the burning streets of Caracas, where Venezuela’s economic crisis has flared up. Desperate to sober up, he returns to the abandoned lodge he built during happier, healthier days in the Amazon jungle. Dense vines, fever dreams and poisoned water close in on him, while good friends with bad habits whisper promises of gold. In his fragile state, Roque joins the indigenous locals in illegal gold mining, controlled by Colombian guerillas. Faced with the darkness of the merciless land, he reaches deep inside himself to find a way out.
Director's statement:
Jorge Thielen Armand
“My father was away for seven years in the Amazon during the ‘90s. He built a tourist lodge with the help of the Pemón tribe, where tourists from all over the world later arrived; he prepared their meals and took them on adventure excursions. It was his dream come true. But his success faded along with Venezuela’s tourism industry; its appeal was lost due to crime and political instability. Trying to hold on to his dreams and wanting to prove himself worthy, my father decided to remain in the Amazon to pursue illegal gold mining, an endeavor that almost cost him his life.
I visited when I was young, it was the only way I could spend time with him. The visions of swimming in the river with my indigenous friends are still vivid, and my father’s legends about tepuy mountains once being giant trees never left my mind. Father once kicked me out of our hut in the middle of the night; he was drinking. I still remember the stars ahead of me that night, not above, for the air was clear of nearby lights.
As an exiled Venezuelan I am invaded by a feeling of loss, a longing for something that is no longer there and that might never return. I was 15 when my mother and I left Venezuela. I separated from a culture—and a life—entirely built on family. The years that followed I watched how my family disintegrated along with the country. The economic crisis and a regime that promotes violence made most of us leave. The houses of my childhood are now in ruins, the streets are desolate, and the places we used to vacation are now controlled by guerrillas from Colombia who work with the government to ravage the land in search of gold.
Inspired by the true stories of my father, LA FORTALEZA follows his return to the Amazon jungle to rebuild our abandoned tourist lodge—and to rebuild himself in an attempt to quit drinking. Making the film became a way for my father and I to confront the distance between us, the pains of the past, and the inner violence this has unleashed. I set out in search of fortitude, to immortalize my father and a place I can no longer recognize in memories.”