White Elephant (Elefante blanco)

Stay together! Don't spread out!

Shine a light over there.

- I think he is there. - Where?

Move forward. Forward!

Be careful!

Tell me where he is! Where is he? Where is he? Tell me!

Tell me! Where is he?

Fucking shit! Where the fuck is The European?

Check the back! Bring the people here!

Tell me!

You! Move, fucking shit! Come on! All of you! Get down!

Move!

- Check the houses! - Don't kill us!

You! Damn it!

Check every damn place!

Quechua speaking.

Nicolas...

C'est moi.

Two days here and you'll get him out of the hospital.

- Ok, thank you. - He'll be alright.

Thank you.

Quechua speaking.

Thank you, Julián.

Thank you.

WHITE ELEPHANT

It's so big. How many people live at the slum?

It's hard to know. At least officially.

Besides, this is not even in the maps.

We tally during baptisms for an estimate.

Between kids, godparents and family it's around fifteen thousand.

The whole slum probably doubles that.

- Thirty thousand? - Yes.

This was meant to be a hospital.

Three hundred families live here now. Plus us among them.

The original project dates back to 1937.

Created by a socialist, Alfredo Palacios.

It was approved by the Congress.

What happened?

Construction was stopped...

and reinitiated almost 20 years later during Peron's term.

Then it was stopped again, after the coup in 1955.

It was going to be the biggest hospital in Latin America.

Now they call it "White elephant".

Good morning!

This is Father Nicolas.

- Good morning, Father. - Hello.

- Anything to drink? Tea? - No thanks.

I want to show you the site then...

- Julián! Come! - Hold on.

- Sure. - What is it?

- I'll be there later... - What is it?

- They need help at the kitchen... - Stay with Nicolas.

Okay. Bring the buckets.

Hi Nicolas. My name is Lisandro.

- Welcome. Let's go to the chape. - Thanks. Sure.

- Need any help? - Sure.

- Did you rest? - Yes.

We are proud to have you here.

Julián told us all about your work at Amazonas.

Come back later...

- Hello Luciana. - Hello.

- How are you doing? - Fine. You?

- This is Nicolas... - Yes. I've met him. Feeling better?

Yes.

- We have water in the chapel. - Are you coming?

In a minute.

You better wear your collar or people will not recognize you.

A couple of weeks ago they put a gun to the head

of one of the kids volunteering for school tutoring.

They thought he was with the cops.

It's the first time anyone's told me I look like a cop.

- Hi there! - Hi.

- Hold this. - Sure!

- Morning! - Hey there.

Come to the baptism, girls... It's next week.

- Thanks. - It's really damp.

It takes five days to dry.

- Roberto... - Hello. Everything okay?

Hi.

How are you doing, Irma?

- Bring your kid to the baptism. - Okay...

- Good morning. - Hey guys! Here are some flyers...

Spread the word. Next week. On Thursday.

Good morning. Hey there!

Let's keep going.

- Did you get any water in here? - It's so muddy!

- How is your leg? - Better.

I'm glad. Careful where you step.

- Julián... - What?

There are sixteen on the list already.

Really?

- Seven more with no ID. - Did you talk to Luciana?

I told her. She will look into it.

- Good morning! - I guess we'll be okay...

- Good morning. - Good morning.

That's a lot of water!

Let's see what we can do.

- Is this it? - Yes.

This is our chapel.

- Julián... - Hello!

- Good morning. - Hi there, Cruz! This is Cruz.

- This is Nicolas. - The foreign father!

- Everyone's talking about you. - Father Nicolas.

Cruz gives us a hand with the workshops

and pretty much anything else he can!

- Let's take the water out. - We are taking the pews out

so they don't rot.

It'd be a pity if these got wet.

Lord Jesus Christ, You said to your friends...

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.

Look not on our sins but the faith of your Church,

and, as You say, grant peace and unity.

You live and reign and love us.

- Forever and ever. - Amen.

- Peace be with you a ways. - And also with you.

Let us offer each other a sign of peace.

Peace be with you.

When I was a kid, every time my father wanted to beat me...

I climbed like a monkey to the roofs and he used to say...

Get down here, "Monito"! I'm not going to hit you.

So everyone started calling me Monito.

I don't like it. My name is Esteban.

It's a pain in the ass...

Now everyone at the slum calls me Monito.

- I like it here anyway... - You like it here?

You're here for the fix, man!

Don't mess with me, man!

I'm talking serious stuff.

I'm going to tel you something because I'm fed up with you.

- Do you want to be here at the slum? - Sure!

If you want to be here, then clean up, man!

Because if you leave,

the slum will go out and find you, man.

Cut the crap! It's not the slum's fault.

- So why do you think we are this way? - Okay, shut it man!

At school, the posh girls ask me: "How can you live in the slum?"

I tell them I'm okay here.

- I feel well. - That's good.

Oculta rules!

Yes, okay. The slum is our place, we don't have to deny it.

But it's also good to get out. Change the air for a while.

That's what the farm is for.

So you can be away from the stuff that hurts you.

I have nothing, Father. What are you talking about?

- You have God... - What would you do in my situation?

- Would you be in my position? - Getting out is your choice.

You can get support from the group, from us, from your family...

Family? We were all abandoned when kids!

There's people who care for you, Chato.

It's the way it works. You have to take it day by day.

Then if I do drugs, God will punish me.

No, God is not there to punish you.

That's how people who don't understand God think.

Try to think of God as a friend.

Friends don't always choose the right path.

Besides... the wrong path is always cooler.

- Yeah! - Isn't it?

What did the other Father make out of all this?

What did I just say?

That you like to party.

You're one of the cool ones!

- How do you say party in French? - Duef...

- What about bullshit? - Merde...

- Motherfucker? - La chatte de ta mere.

- And go fuck yourself? - Enough!

- Doesn't it translate? - Yes, it does.

- Who's been missing? For how long? - Two weeks. Good morning!

- Morning! - Don't know. Let's ask Cruz.

- Okay. - Hi there.

- Hello. - Hey guys. How do you do?

- How are you? - We are just a few...

- Yes! I can tell! - There are many missing...

- What happened? Anybody knows? - I don't know, Julián.

- Don't you speak with the others? - I've told them a million times.

- So? - They don't want to come.

But if you are friends, try to talk them into coming.

- It's important that they come, right? - They keep saying they will but...

This is Andy. He wants to be part of the workshops.

- Hello. - Hi Andy!

Make room for him!

- Thanks... - Sit here, that's right.

- I'll see you later. - Okay.

- Bye, bye. - Shall we continue?

See you later, Julián. Okay. Let's put one.

Hold this one for me.

Hail Mary, full of Grace. Our Lord is with thee.

Blessed art Thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,

and at the hour of death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,

and at the hour of death. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of Grace. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,

and at the hour of death. Amen.