SEXUAL DEPENDENCY (DEPENDENCIA SEXUAL) Latin Cinema Series

Masterfully using the split-screen format, verite camera work and emphasis on spontaneous dialogue, SEXUAL DEPENDENCY explores individual identity versus societal expectations. An appealing young ensemble cast inhabits complex characters whose revelations occur unexpectedly, making them all the more powerful.

As the film begins, a billboard featuring a ripped blond hunk in briefs stares down at passersby in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A teenager casually loses her virginity at her friend’s 15th birthday party; an introverted Colombian boy is goaded into a whorehouse visit; an affluent student cheats on his model girlfriend to indulge in a one-night stand before leaving for the US; a stalwart black female explores racial and gender politics on campus; and a closeted college football player/model struggles to rectify the seemingly disparate parts of his life. These five stories merge and overlap in a provocative, sometimes startling manner.

Keen observations reverberate into epiphanies, as director Rodrigo Bellott uses both a predatory camera and our own preconceptions to unsettle us. Much more than the sum of its parts, SEXUAL DEPENDENCY is a worthy standard-bearer for a revitalized Bolivian cinema.