AllMovie

Coca is a plant that grows all over Bolivia, cultivated by small farmers and used in a variety of folk remedies and as a food supplement. But coca is also used to make cocaine, and in an effort to wipe out worldwide cocaine production, the United States government and the United Nations have pressured many Latin American nations, including Bolivia, to make growing or using the Coca plant illegal. However well intentioned these policies may be, they've had the side effect of criminalizing activities that have been common in Bolivia for years and are an accepted part of the nation's culture. With the encouragement of American authorities, Bolivian police and military officials have taken a "zero tolerance" policy against growing Coca, and widespread violence against people who raise or use the plant has been frequently reported. At the same time, as Bolivia treats many ordinary villagers like dangerous criminals, the use of other drugs in the cities is growing, leading to crime and delinquency among youth and the economic underclass. Filmmaker Martha Gutierrez Flores offers a sobering look at the impact of American drug policies in a nation half a world away in the documentary Koka Zero (aka Coca Zero), which was an official selection at the 2008 London International Documentary Festival.