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PEPE MUJICA: LESSONS FROM THE FLOWERBED
Germany/Uruguay, 2015
Spanish with English subtitles/ 94′
Director: Heidi Specogna

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Post-Festival screening
Wed, Sept-7
7:00 PM | SFU Woodward’s
149 Hastings Street West (between Cambie and Abbott)

$12/$10
Festival Passes and Vouchers accepted.
Free for SFU students (with ID)

The Box Office at SFU Woodward’s will open at 6:30pm tonight. Tickets can be bought by cash or credit card.

José “Pepe” Mujica, the president of Uruguay from 2010-2015, is nothing like your regular politician. He drives a VW Beetle, lives on a farm and donates 70% of his earnings to charity. He is considered one of the most charismatic politicians in Latin America. Old and young believe in him thanks to his humble lifestyle and his unconventional manners, especially where political protocol is concerned. Now in his 80s, Mujica, a former guerrilla fighter who was imprisoned for 13 years for fighting with the Tupamaros against the dictatorial regime in Uruguay in the 1970s, believes in democracy, socialism, women’s rights and the legalization of cannabis. An inspiration to thousands of people all over the world, he grows flowers in his garden and defines life as his religion.

“I never get tired of saying to young people that those who are defeated are those who cease to fight, it’s always worthwhile to start over in all aspects of life, not just in politics. I believe that life is a marvellous adventure. And it’s worthwhile to start again 20 times over. Those dark, horrible years gave me a lot.” Pepe Mujica

Pepe Mujica se ha ganado fama mundial porque se le ha considerado como ‘‘el presidente más pobre del planeta’’, pero de acuerdo a Mujica mismo: pobre no es que el tiene poco, sino el que siempre quiere más. Desde que tomó posesión como presidente del Uruguay, el ex-guerrillero ha sido uno de los líderes latinoamericanos más carismáticos. Siendo miembro del grupo de los Tupamaros pasó largos años en prisión, a su salida, dejó las armas y eligió el camino democrático para llevar su visión política al pequeño país, logrando legalizar y regular el uso de  la marihuana, autorizando el matrimonio igualitario y la despenalización del aborto.

“Para vivir hay que tener libertad. Para tener libertad hay que tener tiempo.” Pepe Mujica

ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Producer: Heino Deckert
Cinematographer: Rainer Hoffmann
Editor: Kaya Inan
Cast: José “Pepe” Mujica, Lucía Topolansky

Heidi Specogna (Biel, Switzerland, 1959) studied at the DFFB (Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin) and in 1990 was one of the founders of Specogna Film. For her documentary Tupamaros (1997), she won Best Work of a Non-Latin American Director on a Latin America Subject at the Havana Film Festival. Since 2003 she is a lecturer for documentary filmmaking at the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

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