Amy Hesketh in Harrowing Scenes from Her Bolivian Period Drama Olalla (2015)

Amy Hesketh directs and stars in “Olalla” (2015), a dark period drama filmed in Bolivia, where she has made several independent films exploring cruelty, power and punishment. This long compilation follows her character through the film’s bleakest moments. It opens with a woman in a stark white room, injured and bloodied, then moves to a candlelit bedroom where a severe man in a white shirt and black tie keeps her tied to the bed and torments her. Later the story moves outdoors to a village square, where a crowd in old fashioned dress gathers as she is condemned, whipped and tied to a wooden cross. The final scenes take place at night by firelight. Amy appears nude for most of the film, but every scene is staged to show suffering and the cruelty of those around her, not to excite. The film draws on old traditions of religious persecution and witch trials, and its handmade, theatrical style is typical of Hesketh’s work. This is challenging, extreme arthouse material and is best approached as a portrait of persecution rather than an erotic film.

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