Pasajes de la cultura ecuatoriana

Based on the work of Monsignor Leónidas Proaño, Bishop of Riobamba, the daily life of an indigenous community is presented. His family intimacy and his spirituality, manifested through a rich religious syncretism, are perhaps the most important aspects shown in this film.

Chimborazo, Ecuador. At 6,267 meters high, in one of the world´s highest volcano, the Chimborazo, Baltazar Ushka has been working for more than thirty years now. He works chopping ice out of the glacier, later to be used to cool fruit juices at the popular market in Riobamba, Ecuador. This documentary travels through time in a circular way, to create a life´s portrait of the last Chimborazo Ice Man. It's the second part of the most famous and award-winning documentary in Ecuador: Los Hieleros del Chimborazo. 1980.

Since colonial times, the indigenous people of the Andean mountains have ascended to peaks that reach 5,200 meters above sea level. There, they crush gigantic blocks of ice that carry on their backs to sell them later in the fairs of Riobamba and Guaranda. The film shows the living conditions of the communities that live from this activity.