May Sumak / Quichwa Film Showcase: Indigenous Media from the Andes and Beyond is coming to New York City this week (March 26-28, 2015). It’s really great to see that the screenings and discussions will be hosted not only in three boroughs (Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens), but also by several institutions: the National Museum of the American Indian, New York University, Lehman College of CUNY, and the Queens Museum. Please note that many of the films will be in Kichwa, the Ecuadorean dialect of Quechua, with English subtitles.
Tag Archives: Ecuador
February & March 2012 Film Festivals
Just a quick note to let you know about two film festivals you may want to check out. The first ever PBS Online Film Festival will include a few films produced by the Native American Publication Telecommunication (NAPT), including I Survived, The Migration, and Horse You See. And, for those of you near Palm Springs, check out the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum’s 2012 Festival of Native Film and Culture which will include Smokin’ Fish. Their website lists the program, but you can also read more about the festival here. Let me know what you think!
Theeere she is!
X Festival CLACPI Ecuadorpi
Solamente una nota pequeña para avisarles que está disponible video e imagenes desde el X Festival de Cine y Video de los Pueblos Indígenas organizado por CLACPI y la CONAIE en el Ecuador. Gracias a Amalia Córdova por el enlace y a Gabriela Gamez por los videos. Para mayor información sobre el festival y sobre CLACPI, por favor visiten su página y también la Agenda General.
La Taxista
- Introduction to Ecuadorian soap opera La taxista.
Thanks to a recent tweet by Sacha Rosero of OtavalosOnline.com, I read an article about a new Ecuadorian soap opera called La taxista.1 The soap opera’s protagonist, Rosita Tituaña, is supposed to depict an Indian from Imbabura province who has migrated to the coastal city of Guayaquil. The show’s critics explain that it reproduces stereotypes about Indians being unable to speak correctly when in fact, Otavalos are well known as world travelers and polyglots. An indigenous professor notes that the show’s producers did not even bother to accurately portray native dress since Rosita wears a mixture of elements from the dress styles of native women from Otavalo and Chimborazo. The show’s librettist, however, argues that La taxista endeavors to show that Indians don’t have to change their ways in order to succeed in life. Ecuadorian actor Alberto Cuesta agreed with critics and made an interesting point: afro-Ecuadorians, women and gays have also been subjected to this type of treatment in Ecuadorian media.
After watching a recent cast interview (see up to 0:34 and 9:18 to the end in particular) and part of the second episode, it seems to me that the show’s creators have never traveled to Imbabura province or ever spoken to any Otavalos. First, Rosita’s style of dress is indeed inaccurate. This may seem like a superficial critique but it’s a manifestation of the fact that little research was done into the culture being portrayed. I have seen women from other provinces who migrate to Quito wearing a mixture of western and native dress. However, when women from Imbabura mix elements of western and native dress, it doesn’t look the way Rosita is portrayed in the intro clip. Second, the writer’s assertion that an Indian should not have to change left me at a loss as to what the show’s conception of an Indian is. Is the essence of an Indian to be innocent? To speak incorrectly? To play to folklorization of Indian culture by breaking out into dance in an Indian costume? It seems that whoever was responsible for molding Rosita’s character has conflated being ignorant and unsophisticated with being Indian. Being Indian is different things for different people but I think it has more to do with practicing and having pride and respect for native culture – something one can do while dressing in western clothes, while speaking French, or while speaking standard Ecuadorian Spanish, for that matter. I have nothing against dialects; I tend to sing like a Cuencana when I speak Spanish. But, Rosita doesn’t even speak in Imbabura dialect! And even if she did, she could do it more genuinely. The exaggerated manner in which she speaks is played for cheap laughs and it gets tired pretty quickly. Besides leaning towards insensitivity, it also results in bad acting.
It is sad that some people may watch this show and engage in ignorant jokes at Indians’ expense.2 And I suppose I should feel offended by the show. But I don’t. I shook my head as I watched the clips above, alright. But, at the same time, I know Rosita is not a reflection of who Indians really are. Instead of feeling offended for Indians, I feel embarassed for the show’s creators because it is more of a manifestation of their ignorance and how far they need to go to bring genuine and meaningful portrayals of Indians to the media.
If I had Ecuavisa, I’d probably tune in just to dissect these stereotypes some more. So, it might be worth it to examine this aspect of it for a class. But otherwise, and unless they start taking these things into consideration, it seems like I’d probably do like Rosita sings in her intro: hightail it outta there “hecho una bala.” Silly song is catchy.
P.S. But wouldn’t it be something if the show’s creators took critics’ comments to heart and came back with television we can all be proud of?
1. Redacción Sierra Centro. “La taxista incomoda en Imbabura.” El Comercio 15 de agosto 2010.
2 See Muenala, Germán. “La taxista.” El Diario del Norte. 8 de agosto 2010.
Chevron Demands Crude Footage
I had not considered the ways that socially committed films might put directors and other collaborators at risk but I recently read about Chevron demanding that director Joe Berlinger hand over footage of his documentary, Crude, which I wrote about back in August 2009. For more information, see the articles below.
Carroll, Rory. “Chevron oil demands Crude filmmaker hand over unseen footage.” The Guardian. April 29, 2010.
Merin, Jennifer. “Joe Berlinger Update: In Court Over Crude, On Assignment for Oprah Winfrey.” About.com Guide to Documentaries April 26, 2010.
Crude: The Real Price of Oil
Español pronto…
Last Wednesday afternoon, after a circuitous ride into Flushing Meadows Park, I eventually made my way to the parking lot of the Queens Museum of Art. (This brought to mind a similarly circuitous excursion over 10 years ago when a colleague and I went to Flushing Meadows Park to have cuy for dinner. Lucky for the ‘immortal cuy’ – about which Cuencanos ponder at length when the mood strikes us – we never did find the vendor.) Since I was an hour early, I was hoping there was a café where I could have dinner before the show. But, it looks like I’m destined to go without food whenever I travel to this park since the lady at the information desk told me that the Museum (and any potential café therein) was closed. My stomach usually waits for no one but it did on Wednesday because, GPS and all, I would have taken too long to find my way out and toward food. After a longer wait than I anticipated – since the movie started ET (no, not Eastern Time; Ecuadorian Time, half past the scheduled hour) – the screening began.
The award-winning film Crude: The Real Price of Oil explores the legal battle being waged against Texaco/Chevron (Texaco merged with Chevron in 2001) for its environmental pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon and the attendant havoc it is wreaking on Ecuadorian communities, both mestizo and indigenous. Humans and animals are dying as a result of this huge oil spill, which exceeds the Exxon Valdez spill by millions of gallons. Thirty thousand Ecuadorians have brought a claim against Texaco/Chevron. The company, however, claims to have systematically cleaned up the spills before leaving Ecuador in the mid 1990s, when the government-run PetroEcuador took over the operation. The case is still pending; indeed, community’s lawyers note that the company is using a delay tactic in order to bankrupt their case. Detractors say the plaintiffs’ lawyers, which includes an American team funded by a U.S. firm (who is not doing the work pro bono) and an Ecuadorian lawyer named Pablo Fajardo, who was featured in Vanity Fair’s Green Issue and received a CNN Heroes Award, are doing the work for monetary benefit.
Fajardo is an interesting person who I found to be the most passionate and convincing voice in this film. A mother whose child is suffering from cancer was its most heartbreaking. Another interesting personality was the humorous and frank American lawyer Steven Dozinger. His Ecuadorianisms as well as an interesting cultural exchange between him and members of the Ecuadorian team elicited chuckles from the audience. I am glad that Berlinger included his exchange with the Ecuadorian team because I think we often tend to privilege American ways of doing and knowing.
After the screening, the directer, Joe Berlinger; producer, Michael Bonfiglio, and the editor, Alyse Ardell Spiegel, were on hand for questions. Bonfiglio and Carlos Guttierez, co-founder of Cinema Tropical (one of the movie hosts, along with the Queens Museum of Art, the Consulate General of Ecuador and the National Museum of the American Indian), provided English to Spanish translation (the movie screened in Spanish). Berlinger noted that he was motivated to make the film when he saw that, instead of eating fresh fish caught in uncontaminated waters, people in the Ecuadorian Amazon were eating tuna fish out of a can which was packed who knows how many miles away. He felt he could not live his suburban lifestyle knowing that people were living in these conditions and felt a broader indignation about how, in his words, white people have abused Indians over 500 years. This was an interesting statement to hear in this setting since I haven’t always experienced feelings of solidarity on the part of the general Ecuadorian population toward the indigenous population. (I am certain Ecuadorians have felt the effects of the North/South divide but not necessarily as it pertains to Indians.) A few audience members noted that they had never even heard of this situation and were both very appreciative that Berlinger took the time and work to make this film and were interested in ensuring that more people saw it. Berlinger noted that one way to ensure it continues to be seen is for it to have a good run at the IFC Center in New York City where it will be playing, with English subtitles, September 9-22. I thought one audience member was particularly conscientious in noting that the film should also be translated into Chinese since the Chinese are currently buying a lot of petroleum in Ecuador and should be made aware of how their dealings in Ecuador impact the people there.
I am curious to know about the role of the Ecuadorian government. Berlinger noted that the Correa government has been environmentally progressive. Although the government does not have the resources to clean it all, they have cleaned up some of the damage. Moreover, in a fascinating turn, Ecuador has given constitutional rights to flora and fauna! However, I was angered to hear that the Ecuadorian government (not during Correa’s presidency) released Texaco/Chevron of any legal responsibility upon leaving Ecuador in the 1990s. (It should be noted that while the government released them, the Ecuadorians affected did not; that is how they are able to take the company to court.) Texaco/Chevron claims that PetroEcuador has caused several spills after Texaco/Chevron left the country and that they should be held accountable. I do not mean to diminish Texaco/Chevron’s role in this mess; the company should be held accountable for the damage they have caused. I am wondering whether or not the government conducted a thorough investigation to ensure that the transnational actually cleaned up before they signed this release. Did they know the extent of the damage before the community began to feel its effects? Have governments ever been held accountable for any potential neglect in similar cases?
I wish these questions had been addressed in some way (and just so you know, I finally did raise my hand but there were too many people ahead of me with their own questions). I also thought the film would have been more effective if some testimony wasn’t left out. For example, someone asked whether there were ex-company employees who had witnessed the company’s wrongdoing. Berlinger decided, for reasons of length, to use only the views articulated in the trial.
Still, the film, which was filmed on different continents and over years, was very good and definitely very engaging. In addition to timely coverage of a lamentable situation that is ultimately caused by worldwide addiction to oil and therefore touches us all, it used candid moments to focus the lens on various aspects of the case. Although certain personalities definitely stand out in the movie, I just noticed that Berlinger didn’t want to privilege any one voice. From the Amazonian indigenous woman who sings about the population’s plight in the beginning of this documentary through environmental philanthropist Sting singing “I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world” at the end, many voices have their say. Speaking of music, I thought it was cool that Berlinger used music that was representative of Ecuador’s various ethnicities; I heard indigenous music from the sierra as well as the Amazon; Afro-Ecuadorian music and the old standby, Julio Jaramillo.
So, please let someone know about the movie and about the situation. Visit the website and peep the trailer below.
“Crude”: éste miercoles, 26 de agosto
Recibí ésta invitación y quise hacerles llegar. El documental se dará solamente en español y por ende no traduzco al inglés.
EL CONSULADO GENERAL DE ECUADOR EN NUEVA YORK y el MUSEO DE ARTE DE QUEENS en colaboración con el MUSEO NACIONAL DEL INDÍGENA AMERICANO y CINEMA TROPICALtienen el agrado de invitarlo a una función especialde pre-estreno de la película
Crude: The Real Price of Oil
Dirigida por Joe Berlinger, Ecuador/USA, 2009, 105 min.
En inglés, español, a’ ingae y secoya con subtítulos en español.
LA ÉPICA HISTORIA DEL INFAME CASO TEXACO, UNO DE LOS
CASOS JURÍDICOS MÁS GRANDES Y MÁS CONTROVERTIDOS DEL MUNDO.
Encabezados por el abogado Pablo Fajardo, quien se ha convertido ya en todo un héroe popular en el Ecuador, el caso legal ha puesto a 30 mil indígenas en contra del gigante petrolero estadounidense.
MIÉRCOLES, 26 DE AGOSTO, 7PM
MUSEO DE ARTE DE QUEENS
NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
¡Con la presencia de invitados especiales!
Entrada libre. Reserve a gabriel@queensmuseum.org
ó al teléfono (718) 592-9700 ext. 140
Ñawipi: miradas hacia dentro en la Mitad del Mundo
El segundo festival itinerante de cine y video de los pueblos originarios se dará el 22 de septiembre hasta el 3 de octubre del 2009 en Quito, Ecuador. Las inscripciones se cierran el 20 de julio asi que inscríbanse pronto!