Selected for this year’s Locarno Open Doors Producers Lab, “99 Secrets” is the debut feature of leading Bolivian producer Alvaro Manzano Zambrana, whose previous credits include production manager on Werner Herzog’s “Salt and Fire” and producer on Vinko Tomicic’s Tribeca Film Festival World Narrative Competition player “The Dog Thief,” currently enjoying a strong festival run.
Framing an across-the-tracks teen romance, “99 Secrets” unfolds inside a dance hall during a lavish quinceañera party, where a 14-year-old amateur pickpocket sneaks in to have a dance with young Ana. The party quickly turns from a festive atmosphere to one of fear and seclusion as revolution floods the streets outside, keeping partygoers confined to the hall for three days.
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During the party’s transformation, guests reveal their true natures, and Ana and Jonathan’s bond deepens. The two children become refugees for one another as they savor their final moments together before reality splits them up once again.
Describing the film in his own words, Manzano told PvNew, “The whole story takes place in the middle of a quinceañera party. This celebration is the temporary container for all the conflicts and secrets that the characters go through. The party is an analogy for life but is also an excuse to depict Bolivia’s complex political and social dealings from the perspective of two teenagers from different social and economic backgrounds in an honest and playful way.
“The party hall and the whole building, known as a cholet, are also crucial elements of the story. The Neo-Andean architecture of this edifice inspires the film’s aesthetic. It serves as a visual metaphor for the vibrant and surreal structures woven together to construct contemporary Bolivia,” he finished.
“99 Secrets” is also written by Manzano and being produced by Camila Molina Wiethüchter at Bolivia’s Color Monster. Currently in development, shooting is scheduled for May 2026.
According to Molina, “The story is set in El Alto, a new city that has not been yet portrayed in Bolivian cinema, full of textures, symbols, and mysticism. Built primarily by the rural migration of Aymara indigenous peoples, it is now famous for a new architectural trend called Neo-Andean Architecture. This trend is not only an architectural phenomenon but also a cultural movement, representing a unique and colorful expression of Aymara heritage within the urban landscape of Bolivia. El Alto is now the second most populous city in Bolivia, a commercial city where the struggles of social movements persist.
She finished, “It is a love story set in a 15 party in a cholet in El Alto, Bolivia, following the experiences of two teenagers, Ana and Jonathan. Living in a context of loneliness and social and political polarization, the story aims to inspire the possibility and hope that small, meaningful connections can give life a sense of purpose.”
