INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK (fwd)

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INDIGENOUS FILMS FROM CHILE PREVIEW IN NEW YORK
http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=12354&topic_id=15

(December 1, 2006) The 13th Native American Film and Video Festival
began Thursday at the National Museum of the American Indian in New
York. Of the 550 entries submitted, four Chilean films have made the
final festival, including the new music video from Mapuche hip hop
artist JAAS.

One hundred and twenty-five films will premiere in their native language
at this year’s festival, which features a mix of fiction, short film and
animation from the U.S., Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Canada,
Columbia, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Amongst Chile’s contributions are a Mapuche music video, directed by
Jennifer Aguilera Silva and a documentary about Mapuche activism by
Australian resident Juan Francisco Salazar.

In “Newen” (Life Force), JAAS calls on her Mapuche ancestors in native
language Mapadungun to awaken the warrior spirit within the Mapuche
people of today.

Salazar’s documentary, “De la Tierra a la Pantalla” (From Land to
Screen), offers a journey into the lives and work of three Mapuche
media activists working in radio and video. They counter mainstream
media coverage of events with Mapuche perspectives and images.

The festival aims to offer perspectives of what it means to be
indigenous in the 21st century. Works includes narratives, animations,
and documentaries on issues of personal identity, struggle for native
lands, community strengths, and the impact of multi-nationalism. Border
and cross-cultural realities infuse many of the pieces.

“Indigenous Latin American fiction film is very rare,” said Amalia
Córdova, Chilean and Coordinator of Latin American Programs at the New
York museum. “The majority are documentaries due to lack of funding.”

According to Córdova, the key question is: where is the audience for a
film about Chile’s indigenous population? “In the majority of cases
it’s for their own small community, or for the developed world as a
form of political activism,” she said.

SOURCE: LA NACION
By Beatrice Karol Burks (editor at santiagotimes.cl)