Delicate Balance

(Frágil equilibrio)
Guillermo García López | Documentary

2016 | 81 minutes | Chile, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Japan

Centered around an extensive interview with Jose “Pepe” Mujica, the former President of Uruguay who gained notoriety on the world stage as a rare politician: one that lives according to the ideas and principles he preaches, Delicate Balance is a contemplative essay on the everyday reality of globalization.

Synopsis

Centered around an extensive interview with Jose “Pepe” Mujica, the former President of Uruguay who gained notoriety on the world stage as a rare politician: one that lives according to the ideas and principles he preaches, Delicate Balance is a contemplative essay on the everyday reality of globalization.

Mujica’s ideas about modern society, where economic interests prevail over human values, are used to connect three stories: A Japanese salaryman in Tokyo, a sub-Saharan community trying to cross the borders into Europe, a family evicted from their own home in Spain. Three stories intertwined on three different continents.

The words of the President Mujica — a humble, soft-spoken figure who looks like a retired farm laborer rather than a retired politico — structure this clear-sighted documentary about the socio-economic mess we’re making of our world, but it also comes with suggestions from Mujica about how to change it for the better.

Ultimately, Delicate Balance is a proposal for change, from the particular to the general, that offers a powerful message of optimism for the future. This film is a reflection on the path that the human race is taking, on its habits and its relationship with the world.

Reviews

"Required viewing in a time of global crisis... A rangy, ambitious and surprisingly upbeat state-of-the-world documentary, this film is built around the wise words of former Uruguayan president José Mujica." — Jonathan Holland, The Hollywood Reporter

"This is a profoundly thoughtful film, that encourages you to think about more than just an immediate connection - about the deeper ties that bind." — Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

"Guillermo García López's debut feature Delicate Balance delivers an engaging discourse on the inequalities and ailments faced in modern society." — Christopher O'Keeffe, Screen Anarchy

Citation
Main credits

García López, Guillermo (film director)
García López, Guillermo (film producer)
García López, Guillermo (screenwriter)
Mujica Cordano, José Alberto (interviewee)
González Kühn, Pedro (film producer)
Godoy-Estel, Pablo (film producer)

Other credits

Cinematography, Pablo Bürmann; editor, Guillermo García López, Victoria Lammers; music, Zeltia Montes.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
José Alberto Mujica, Uruguay, Japan, Spain, work, crisis, border, exile, immigration, displacement, refugee, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,labor studies, employment studies, workers rights, workers’ rights, organizing, labor unions, trade unions, unions, industry, employment law, working class, labor rights, labor equity, employment, union organizing, labor organizing, labor rights movements, employment rights movements, workers’ rights movement, workers rights movements,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,economics, social class, money, capital, capitalism, class, economy, prejudice, intersectionality, inequality, poverty, income gap, wage gap, class warfare, elitism, snobbery, bourgeois, poverty, upper class, middle class, lower class, nouveau riche,international relations, global relations, global studies, international studies, international affairs, intercontinental relations, intercontinental studies, foreign studies, foreign relations, national relations, national studies, cross-continental studies, cross-continental relations,migration studies, migrant studies, immigration studies, refugee studies, diaspora studies, resettlement studies, settlement studies, migration, migrant, immigration, refugee, diaspora, resettlement, settlement, refugees, international migration, continental migration, resettling, settlers, settler, migrant, migrant studies, first generation immigrant, first generation immigration, new americans, new spaniards,urban studies, urbanism, community development, communities, urbanization, civic centers, satellite cities, residential areas, gentrification, barrioization, boomtown, bedroom communities, city block, city center, community displacement, white flight, walkability, zoning, housing, incorporated areas, unincorporated areas, suburbs, exurbs, inner cities, inner city, conservation ,authority, authoritarianism, dictatorship, military regime, military government, fascism, repression, oppression, political oppression, political repression, far right, far right wing, modern fascism,political science, micropolitics, macropolitics, political theory, political education, political movements, political thinking, political criticism, poly sci, polysci, political sci, political sciences, political history, history of politics, political systems,culture, identity, identity politics, culture wars, left wing, right wing, intersectionality, identity groups, civilization, literacy, humanism, cancel culture, online culture, cultural revolution, cultural diffusion, culture shock, popular culture, pop culture, material culture, cultural capital, cultural assimilation ,history, context, narrative, past, chronicle, lore, annals, historic, personal history, archive, record, saga, biography, memoir, study,globalization,delicate balance,tupamaros,Delicate Balance: Three Stories Exploring Globalization,japan,mujica,Zara The Story of the World's Richest Man 2017 What's the secret of the success of Zara and how di,spain,global citizenship,global,global economics,immigration,global economy,Morocco,global issues,mining globalization,japanese office,exploration,balance,world in a balance,fragile eqilibrium,global media,World in balance,globalization and economies,slimate change global warming,femicide in spain,What is globalization,global development,Evicted,ceuta and melilla,a delicate balance,gael garcia bernal,economics,sacred,salaryman,three families,inequality global,Realism,Global Feminism,three mile island,gender and globalization,cross cultural communication globalization,guillermo del toro,metaphor,globalization india,global culture mass media,japanese,three musketeers,bamako,us mexico border,migration,THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI,workers global,gobalization,global crisis,Global North and Global South,global economy and women,globalization of sports,global governance,three worlds of bali,occidental,globalism,a delicate blance,detrotopia,Altruism,feels good man,Guillermo García López,human value,three girls,spain documentary,three seasons,garcia,guillermo gomez-pena,women and globalization,tokyo,global family,global capitalism,Border,goya award,money globalization,melilla,wallerstein,quechua,jose mujica; "Delicate Balance"; Pragda Films; iberian studies,iberian peninsula,mediterranean,andorra,spain,portugal,andorra studies,spanish studies,portuguese studies
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Festivals

Goya Awards® - Best Documentary
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival - Best Documentary; Audience Award
CinemAmbiente Environmental Film Festival - Audience Award for the Best Documentary
SEMINCI Valladolid International Film Festival - Best Spanish Documentary
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Edinburgh International Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Guillermo García López

NATIONALITY: Chile, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, Japan

YEAR: 2016

GENRE: Documentary

LANGUAGE: Spanish; English; French; Japanese; Other languages

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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