AROUND PARADISE

Lost in the untouched landscapes of Paraguay, a strange community of Europeans attempts to build an enclosed “paradise,” far from everything they consider as decay in the modern world. Conspiracy theorists, right-wing extremists, and all sorts of eccentric people arrive in the community, whose founder and leader is a shrewd German man. Crafting the portrait of the community’s leader and tracing the stories of both the settlers and the Paraguayans around the sect that presents itself as a utopia, Around Paradise is an insightful film that – upon indirectly and allusively casting light on the so-called paradise through dark humor and a metaphysical lens – addresses a number of pressing issues of our time: from the rise of the far right and its historical roots to modern colonialism through the economy and digital technology. Unsettlingly revealing and with masterful aesthetics, Yulia Lokshina’s brilliant documentary stays etched in memory long after the end credits.