Ecuadorian Sanfic WIP Doc ‘Ozogoche’ an Elegy for Those Left and Leaving
JD Linville Wind whipped and dressed in vibrant wool ponchos with feathered fedoras, the subjects of Joe Houlberg’s Sanfic WIP documentary “Ozogoche” seem possible only in a Miyazaki storyboard, yet they persist: Don Feliciano and his family belong to the indigenous Kichwa community of Ecuador. The doc observes the lead-up to their annual combing of the Ozogoche beaches, where the Cuviví, migratory birds from North America, end their long journey dive bombing the lagoons in apparent suicide.The land, people and birds of “Ozogoche” serve as rich loam for allegory as the film progresses, with space enough to absorb the difficult reality their traditions face.