In the 1960s, missionaries forcibly uprooted Ayoreo communities within Paraguay from their rich and vast forested ancestral homes to the arid and desolate Paraguayan Chaco region. Since the 1970s, Mateo Sobode Chiqueno, also Ayoreo, has been recording the stories, songs and experiences of the people within his community who experienced the relocation. What do their lives look like now? Through gentle conversations, Mateo records the memories and lived experiences of his community. Like many colonial governments, profits are prized over people, and with a thriving agricultural and cattle ranching industry, Paraguay chooses denialism in the face of the destruction and dislocation of Ayoreo communities. As the population ages and people become more disassociated with their language and culture, Mateo's work becomes ever more pressing as he attempts to preserve the fragments that are left, in hopes that from the memories, a resurgence will bloom. Heather Haynes
World Showcase program sponsored by
La Consulat général de Suisse à Montreal supports Swiss films at Hot Docs
MEDIA COVERAGE
- POV Magazine - "A stunning look at a culture stolen"
- She Does the City - INTERVIEW with director Arami Ullón
- La Estatuilla - "A powerful demonstration of the power of documentary cinema as a tool for history, understanding and empathy"