Paraiso For Sale
June 18 (6:30pm), June 20 (4:45pm), June 22 (9:50pm)
Los Angeles Film Festival
Paraiso For Sale examines the state of filmmaker Anayansi Prado’s native Panama—a sought-after real estate destination for American ex-pats—and the land developers who make their fortunes off these retirees, to the detriment of indigenous culture. The archipelago of Bocas del Toro, a gem hidden away on the country’s Caribbean side, attracts retirees and developers with its crystal clear waters and luscious trees. In Paraiso For Sale, Prado returns to her homeland to document the effects the fast-growing migration of American retirees and developers to Bocas del Toro is having on the local community: a Ngobe Bugle indigenous leader organizes his people in an effort to protect their land from the government and foreign developers; a local boatsman runs for Mayor with the hopes of bringing change to development in Bocas del Toro. Meanwhile, an American retiree couple spend their life savings on their dream home in paradise, only to pay the real price for it later.
Paraiso For Sale explores issues of modern day colonialism, residential tourism and global gentrification, revealing that migration between Latin America and the U.S. is not a one-way street. The characters and stories Prado follows also speak to the larger global issue of communities, new and old, under siege from faceless corporations. (Creative Capital)
Producer: Anayansi Prado
Cinematographer: Victor Mares
Editor: Esteban Arguello
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