The Chocolate Farmer

“Without the land, we will cease to exist.”

In an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. A tender and moving family tale, director Rohan Fernando’s lush cinematic journey intimately captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is suddenly and dramatically changing. A lament for cultures lost, this timely and vital film challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.