THE GOOD LIFE

The village of Tamaquito lies in the forests of Colombia. Here, nature provides the people with everything they need. But the Wayúu community’s way of life is being destroyed by the vast and rapidly growing El Cerrejón coal mine. Determined to save his community from forced resettlement, Jairo Fuentes negotiates with the mine’s operators, backed by powerful resources companies such as Glencore and BHP Billiton, and communicating with their representatives isn’t easy. The villagers are promised the blessings of progress, but the Wayúu place no value on modern, electrified houses — on the so-called better life. Instead, they embark on a fight to save their life in the forest, which soon becomes a fight to survive.

Trailer

Director

JENS SCHANZE was born in 1971 in Bonn. In 2002, he founded Mascha Film together with Judith Malek-Mahdavi. His award-winning documentaries include: OTZENRATHER SPRUNG (2001), BROT UND TÖNE (2003), WINTERKINDER — EINE SCHWEIGENDE GENERATION (2005), OTZENRATH 3° KÄLTER (2007), PLUG & PRAY (2010), and THE GOOD LIFE (2015).

Jens Schanze (photo © Sebastian Engbrocks) photos © Börres Weiffenbach, Jens Schanze