MAMA COCA | HOW THE DRUG WAR DESTROYS INDIGENOUS LIVES

Cinemavixion Review

Mama Coca offers a stark and unflinching look at the devastating impact of the War on Drugs on indigenous communities in South America. Director Marcel Kolvenbach embarks on a powerful road movie, venturing from the Amazon to the Andes to chronicle the escalating tensions between coca farmers and governmental crackdowns. The documentary compellingly illustrates how a movement rooted in land rights and cultural preservation is brutally suppressed by militarized campaigns, often fueled by international pressure. Through intimate personal testimonies and raw, on-the-ground footage, Kolvenbach reveals the profound human cost: displaced families, shattered livelihoods, and the criminalization of ancestral traditions. What emerges is a critical examination of a conflict that transcends drug eradication, exposing a deeper struggle for control. Mama Coca is a vital, albeit harrowing, journey into a forgotten war zone, highlighting the growing resistance and the profound courage found in survival itself.