Located in Andes, between Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, the Altiplano is an immense plateau where several pre-Columbian cultures developed, including the Chiripa, Tiauanaco and the Inca Empire, until the European colonisers occupied it in the sixteenth century. The Chilean artist Malena Szlam, in an absolute debut in Curtas Vila do Conde, explores the diverse material layers of that unique geography. Before this human-induced transformation, the territory had already undergone geological and climatic evolution, with the disappearance of extensive rainfall lakes. The intense mining extraction over the last century is yet another human curse that has unbalanced and threatened this ecosystem. To film all of these textures, Malena Szlam chose to film “Altiplano” with Kodak’s Ektachrome film and a multidisciplinary team of six sound assistants, including the American artist Ben Russell, the Danish composer Jacob Kierkegaard and the oceanographer Susannah Buchan. (PC)