In Paraguay (2008) Reviews

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee, who has cast his quizzical eye on such phenomena as the Civil War, his problems with women and the American news media, now explores the high stakes of life in South America in the movie In Paraguay. McElwee and his wife Marilyn McElwee decided to adopt a child, and made arrangements to become new parents of a baby girl living in Paraguay. When the McElwees flew to Paraguay to meet the child and bring her home, they were struck by the extreme poverty around them, the bureaucracy that dogged them at every stage of the adoption process, and the corruption and oppression that dominates Paraguay's politics. While Ross initially intended to focus on the process of adopting his new daughter, before long his film became a study of a culture whose flaws are all but impossible for him to comprehend, while he also tries to record a bit of his daughter's heritage for her to look to in the future. In Paraguay was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi