Utama
Internationally Produced Drama ‘Utama’ Rides Sundance Acclaim to Jan. 17 Home Release
December 13, 2022
Kino Lorber has set a Jan. 17, 2023, DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital release date for the acclaimed international drama Utama, about an elderly couple in the arid highlands of the Andes and the final days of husband Virginio.
The 2022 film, from director Alejandro Loayza Grisi, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022, where it won the Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema Dramatic). It was released in French theaters in May 2022 and Swiss theaters a month later, with German theaters up next in January 2023.
Utama was selected as the Bolivian entry for the 95th Academy Awards as the Best International Feature Film.
The film will be available to buy and rent early on Kino Now on Jan. 3.
Set in the Bolivian highlands, Utama is centered on an elderly Quechua couple that has been living a tranquil life for years. While he takes their small herd of llamas out to graze, she keeps house and walks for miles with the other local women to fetch precious water. When an uncommonly long drought threatens everything they know, Virginio and Sisa must decide whether to stay and maintain their traditional way of life or admit defeat and move in with family members in the city. Their dilemma is precipitated by the arrival of their grandson Clever, who comes to visit with news. The three of them must face, each in their own way, the effects of a changing environment, the importance of tradition, and the meaning of life itself.