El Salvador – Liberation is a full feature documentary directed by Dr Louis Lam, a medical expeditionist and cultural anthropologist who travels all over the world to tell inspirational stories about the local people and culture, their views about themselves versus the world, and current issues that reflect much wider influences. El Salvador is about a country which has gone through a major civil war followed by years of turmoil of gang violence, and finally liberated by the current government of President Bukele’s “Iron Fist” policy. It looks inside the country through the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the Salvadorans themselves to contrast the outsider view, especially the human rights groups criticism of Bukele’s arrest and incarceration policies on suspected gang members and criminals, as well as the prison conditions of the largest high security jail built in Latin America. It touches upon the very definition of dictatorship and autocracy, as well as their effectiveness in governing societies and peace as compared to a democratic society. It carries out direct interviews with the National Police approved by the Ministry of Justice & Public Safety on the success of the program and safety of the current society. It talks about the country as the first to use Bitcoin in relation to the current economic status, including poverty and the younger generations. It dwells into the unconstitutional desire by Bukele and the Salvadorans to rewrite the constitutions as the basic laws of society, reflecting the world is always in the constant fluid of changes. In additional to the positive changes Salvadorans are experiencing, it also talks about the governmental incentives to improve environmental projects to preserve nature and reduce pollution, as well as solving some of the biggest challenges of clean water and deforestation in Latin America. It takes the audience to a journey of food and culture through colonial towns of Suchitoto where the civil war was fiercely fought, Juayua along the Ruta de la Flores along the past coffee plantations, the highest volcano in the country, the mystic mountain of Comasagua, the past horror of the gang infested Soyapango, and the capital of San Salvador. Finally, it goes through a personal journey into the home of a local Salvadoran home and his family, reviewing the simple beauty of everyday living and joy in the country.

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Filmed Oct 2023.