Distant Dreams

Twenty years ago, the Peruvian filmmaker Alejandro Legaspi made a short film about two little boys who both worked from dawn till dusk on a fruit market in the capital Lima. Eleven-year-old Negro and ten-year-old Gringo did not know each other, although they did essentially the same work in the same place. Over the years, a lot has changed in Peru. In the nineties, under president Fujimori, human rights were violated and corruption was rife nationwide, and despite attempts to let all citizens benefit from the free market, to this day poverty and unemployment prevail among the Peruvians. The filmmaker wonders how his Gringo and Negro have fared and looks for them. When he finds them, he asks them about their current life, their jobs, family life and dreams for the future. One combs all sorts of markets with his assortment of ointments and positions; the other has almost paid off his three-wheel scooter. Both men are marked by their childhood in poverty and still are quite deprived, but they are optimistic about the future.