Stolen Land. (Publicity photo)

Stolen Land might not be a precise translation of Robatierra, which means "land robber," but it's equally ambiguous: In this Colombian documentary, which screened earlier today as part of the All Roads Film Festival, exactly who is robbing whom? It's not always clear. The indigenous Nasa, also known as the Paez, are a pacifistic people caught in the middle of a long-running civil war between the government, Marxist guerrillas, and cocaine traffickers. They are not, however, opposed to all conflict. As we see in Stolen Land, they're intent on reclaiming their ancestral homeland by occupying it en masse, armed with nothing more than tall wooden staffs adorned with colorful strips of cloth.

Álvaro Uribe, the president at the time of filming, called the Nasa's actions theft — and then called in government forces when, several years ago, the Nasa occupied an hacienda and blockaded the Pan-American Highway. There have been similar repercussions in the past, many of them bloody. In 1991, 21 Nasa were bound and slaughtered by the National Police when they took over the Hacienda El Nilo, a massacre that led the government to promise 39,000 acres to the Nasa. The government claims it has more than satisfied the terms of the pact; the Nasa disagree.

Tension exists not only between the Nasa and the government, but also within the Nasa community itself. While the elders preach pacifism, young members of the community band together as "Los Nietos de Quintín Lame," arming themselves with rocks and "potato bombs" in clashes with the National Police, who arrive in riot gear and armed with tanks. It's a fight the Nasa are incapable of winning, and after one clash, in which people's homes and businesses were gutted, one member of the community says, "As Nasa, we've sacrificed for 20 years, and they destroyed everything in 20 minutes."

The suspense of Stolen Land lies in whether or not the Nasa will shake off another crushing blow and keep fighting.