Photos: THE CONDOR DAUGHTER to Expand Across US as Bolivia's Oscar Entry

THE CONDOR DAUGHTER (La Hija Cóndor), Bolivia's official entry to the Academy Awards, is continuing to expand across US cities. The film is now playing in select cities and rolling out to Portland OR (Sept 30), Appleton WI (Oct 1), Seattle WA (Oct 2), Chatam NY (Oct 16), and Bethesda MA (Jan 10/7).

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.

The film was an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2025, and has won Best Film at the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, Best Actress at the Malaga Film Festival, and Best Actress at the Guadalajara International Film Festival.

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.

About THE CONDOR DAUGHTER (LA HIJA CÓNDOR)

2026 / Color / 109 mins / Quecha & Spanish with English Subs

Cast

Ana: María Magdalena Sanizo

Clara: Marisol Vallejo Montaño

Beatriz: Nely Huayta

Flora: Alisson Jimenez

Dionisia: Gregoria Maldonado

Crew

Writer & Director: Álvaro Olmos Torrico

Producers: Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Cecilia Sueiro Mosquera, Diego Sarmiento Pagán, Federico Moreira, Iris Sigalit Ocampo Gil

Executive Producer: Aniceto Arroyo

Director of Photography: Nicolás Wong Diaz, CCR

Editors: Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Irene Cajías

Sound: Federico Moreira

Production Design: Ivan Siácara

Costumes: Analía Peñaloza

Music: Cergio Prudencio

About the Filmmakers

Álvaro Olmos Torrico was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His debut feature, 'Wiñay' (2019), was among the first Bolivian films to be released globally via Amazon Prime. He has produced both documentaries and fiction features, including 'The Ones from Below' by Alejandro Quiroga (Mar del Plata IFF, 2022) and 'The Visitor' by Martín Boulocq (Tribeca, 2022). He is the founder of BoliviaCine.com, the first SVOD platform dedicated to Bolivian cinema, and has taught at the Bolivian Private University and the Andean School of Cinematography. 'The Condor Daughter' is his second feature film and was awarded in the Work in Progress sections of Ventana Sur and Cinélatino Toulouse during its development.

Marisol Vallejos Montaño was born in 2004 in Cochabamba, a city in the Bolivian Andes, with family roots in the nearby rural town of Pocona, home to a Quechua-speaking community and rich Inca heritage. A self-taught musician, she learned guitar at 11 and later fell in love with her grandfather's accordion, playing at local celebrations with her sister. In 2021, the family formed 'Estrella del Valle', an all-female group performing traditional and popular Bolivian music such as cumbia, huayno and cueca. With no prior acting experience, she undertook intensive training in performance, ancestral singing and midwifery practices, making her film debut in the role of Clara.