The BIRRARANGGA Film Festival, scheduled for March 11 to 14, celebrates contemporary indigenous cinema and its filmmakers.
The Australian BIRRARANGGA Film Festival, whose purpose is to celebrate indigenous films from around the globe that explore the strength and resilience of indigenous peoples, will screen the Peruvian short film “Nanayqa mana chinkaqmi” as well as more than 70 other audiovisual works.
In this edition, the festival will screen works from Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Chile, Greenland, Peru, Russia, Finland, Norway, the Solomon Islands, and Australia, to give an overview of contemporary indigenous cinema.
The film festival will be held from March 11 to 14 under the direction of Australian filmmakers Wayne Blair (“The Sapphires”, “Redfern Now”) and Nel Minchin (“Matilda & Me”, “Making Muriel”), who have recognized the artistic value and powerful message of the Peruvian short film.
“Nanayqa mana chinkaqmi” (The Pain does not fade away) is set in the Province of Vilcas Huamán in Ayacucho, Peru. Shot entirely in the Quechua language, the film recounts testimonies of indigenous women who have experienced violence at different stages of their lives.
The film is a co-production of the Provincial Federation of Quechua Women (FEPROMUQ) and CHIRAPAQ, Center for Indigenous Cultures of Peru, with the support of the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) and the Embassy of Canada in Peru. The film was made by more than 20 Quechua youth and women, who participated in the conception, production, and filming.
“Nanayqa mana chinkaqmi” has received numerous awards from many film festivals, including Best Documentary at the Parwarimun Muhu festival in Peru (December 2019); Winner of the Short Film Contest at the “Cine con Chifles” Festival in Peru (December 2019); Honorable Mention at AQP Audiovisual Festival of Peru (November 2019); Special Mention at the Pachamama Festival – Brazilian Frontier Cinema (October 2019); Special mention at the Lima Short Film Festival – FILMOCORTO (August 2019); Special mention in I Festival of Cinema in Original Languages of Peru (July 2019), Honorable Mention in Short Film Contest of the University of Lima (November 2019).
For more than six years, CHIRAPAQ has promoted spaces for cinematographic production among indigenous youth to enable them to reconnect with their cultural roots and express their wishes and problems through audiovisual projects. CHIRAPAQ has more than 20 short films that have earned it broad recognition both in Peru and abroad.
