Hot Docs

Nicaragua is the new Florida, seen by burnt-out Baby Boomers as their cheap ticket to retirement paradise. Three naïve Americans figure they’ve got it made with their mega-resort development plans for a bucolic fishing village on the southern coast. There’s just one small problem: the locals have other ideas. Old school Sandinistas and ex-lefty imperialistas duke it out in this Wild West showdown between economic colonialism and grassroots resistance. Blinkered by dollar signs, the gringos can’t comprehend why the locals aren’t grateful for the school they’re planning—a school to train them to be servants. And the developers really should be more careful about who they rip off. It all plays out against a backdrop of yo-yoing land reforms, Daniel Ortega’s mutable politics, and the upcoming elections. A foul-mouthed cowboy and a one-eyed ex-revolutionary poet function as the chorus, throwing the shenanigans on both sides into stark relief. - Gisèle Gordon

Media Coverage

CityNews (Capsule Review), Eye Weekly (4-star Review)