FILMS FROM TURTLE ISLAND AND BEYOND:
Offerings of Life: What Traditions Will Come Next?
Curated by Akira Iahtail and Masa’n Selene Galindo
This program is a reminder that, as one of the short films says, “life is not fair but you can make your own rules and from where you are at, be fair with yourself and everyone else”. These movies are about the traditions we create and how we are affected by them. They may be born or change in response to injustice, violence, capitalism, patriarchy, death, or just life in general. Through recreated memories, storytelling, rituals, resistance, and the confrontation of intergenerational cycles, these films show agency, autocriticism and the possibility of happiness. This program celebrates life, cinema and the VLAFF, just one more time.
¡See you at the movies!
–Akira Iahtail and Masa’n Selene Galindo
Sunday, Sept 8 at 2:00 PM
The Cinematheque
Program running time: 98 min
Director Clément Lagouarde (Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana/France) in attendance!
A POEM FOR GISELLE, A POEM FOR A PEASANT
Directors: Diana Mora & Camilo Correa Costa
Plurinational State of Bolivia/Germany | 2023
Quechua & Spanish with English subtitles | 9 min
Through the reconstruction of memory and reinterpretation of the classical ballet “Giselle,” Diana develops a message of solidarity with Bolivian peasants of the North Potosí, thereby illuminating the impact of racism in a postcolonial global society and mending her own connection with her lineage and personal identity.
DIANA MORA
Independent ballet dancer and graphic designer based in Berlin. Born and raised in Bolivia, she finished her ballet studies at the Official Ballet School of Bolivia. Her projects combine Graphic Design, Ballet and indigenous cultures, through research of decolonial visuals, the History of ballet, and spirituality.
CAMILO CORREA COSTA
Camilo is a Chilean artist based in Berlin. His work deals with memory, migration, decolonization and emphasizes the authenticity of the moment. He founded Camelstudios in 2010. He has been working at Moabiter Ratschlag e.V. since 2022, where he offers photography courses and promotes intercultural exchange in the neighborhood.
Director: Esteban López
Guatemala | 2023
Spanish with English subtitles | 19 min
In a Maya community in Guatemala, a family is being accused of witchcraft. The rumors have reached the highest authority, so the fate of Joaquín, Nora, and Lucía depends on the decision of the neighbors, who must choose the punishment, between expelling them from their village or applying a Mayan punishment.
ESTEBAN LÓPEZ RAMÍREZ
Maya Mam actor and director from Guatemala. Graduated from the Carlos Figueroa Juárez National School of Dramatic Art in Guatemala and the Plató de Cinema School in Barcelona, Spain. He has directed more than 20 plays, both of his own creation and by national and international authors. He made his big screen debut in 2019 in the film José, which won the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He is part of the cast of the series El Secreto de Selena, playing AB Quintanilla, broadcast on Telemundo and Amazon Prime Video. In 2023, he joined the cast of the film Luciérnagas en el Mozote, filmed in El Salvador. In 2024, he starred in the film Guantán: La leyenda de Juan Quin, which is currently in post-production. Throughout his career as a film director, he has directed five short films with a rural perspective, creating and telling stories that raise awareness and represent the Maya communities of Guatemala.
Director: Wayra Ana Velásquez & Segundo Fuérez
Ecuador | 2022
Spanish with English subtitles | 6 min
An Andean Bear and an Afro-Ecuadorian musician named Cotobito venture on a journey to find magical characters to help them fight against mining in the Intag-Ecuador valley.
WAYRA ANA VELÁSQUEZ
Wayra Ana Velásquez es escritora, fotógrafa y directora de arte. Tiene una Maestría en Literatura con mención en Escritura Creativa por la Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (2023), y una Licenciatura en Comunicación Social mención Desarrollo por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (2020).
De 2015 a 2020 ha realizado varios reportajes televisivos como guionista, productora, presentadora bilingüe, camarógrafa, entrevistadora y editora para el programa Bajo un Mismo Sol de la productora APAK. En 2021 escribe y publica su primer poemario “Muskuykuna” que recoge las sabidurías, sueños y cotidianidades de las comunidades en versos. En 2022 realizó Dirección de Fotografía en la película “Vacaciones” producida por Ayllurec y el Colectivo Humazapas. También se vincula en el mundo de la animación stop motion como Directora de Arte y Animadora en el videoclip Nangulví producida por RUNAnimation. Actualmente trabaja en varios proyectos audiovisuales junto a otros cineastas, y se encuentra escribiendo su primera novela de ficción.
SEGUNDO FUÉREZ
Segundo is a dedicated freelance animator who specialises in Stopmotion, 2D and motion graphics animation and has worked professionally in the industry for over ten years.He completed Master’s studies in Audiovisual Scriptwriting (TECH, 2021), Stop motion Animation at the Latin American Stop motion Workshop (IITLSM, Argentina 2014) and Photography Direction for Film and TV (INCINE, Quito 2013).
OUR FATHER (Yu’a’ah)
Director: Clément Lagouarde
France | 2024
Natchitoches Indigenous Language with English subtitles | 4 min
A brother and his neuroatypical sister reconnect with their roots.
CLÉMENT LAGOUARDE
Native American French actor (from the Natchitoches tribe of Louisiana), this is the second movie I have directed.
RECLAIM
Director: Ashley Qilavaq-Savard
Canada | 2023
English with subtitles | 14 min
Content forecast: Graphic violence
A small Inuit community in the high arctic is snowed in, disconnected from the rest of Canada and essential resources indefinitely. In the high pressure, high stress situation, the local Inuit and community members are relocating to better hunting grounds. SAILA continues to hang around her boyfriend MATT until she is the only Inuk left. Eventually SAILA stumbles on the horrific truth: the white incomers are hunting Inuit and eating them and she is the last one left. Faced with the horrendous reality, SAILA must confront her demons and make the ultimate decision.
ASHLEY QILAVAQ-SAVARD
Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is an Inuk performing artist, poet, writer, artist, and filmmaker born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Ashley studied at the Vancouver Film School, and has worked on projects with the International Sami Film Institute, Qaggiavuut, Nunavut Film Development Corporation, and imagineNATIVE. A dedicated student of Inuktitut, she completed the Aurniarivik program at Pirurvik and the University of Victoria. Her first book of poetry, Where the Sea Kuniks the Land (Inhabit Media) explores themes of decolonization, intergenerational trauma, language, and love for Inuit Nunangat. Ashley worked with the International Sami Film Institute to develop her first short film titled Reclaim, to be included in an Indigenous horror anthology series titled Arctic Chills. Reclaim had its World Premiere at the Skabmagovat Indigenous film festival, International Premiere at the Latino and Native American Film Festival where it won the Young Filmmakers Award, and Canadian Premiere at the inaugural Acimowin film festival.
Director: Cinthya Lizbeth Toledo Cabrera
Mexico | 2023
Spanish & Zapotec with English subtitles | 30 min
The Red Fish song defines the women and girls future from the zapotec community of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as many of them will be forced to prove their virginity through a ritual.
CINTHYA LIZBETH TOLEDO CABRERA
She was born in Asunción Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca, in the heart of the Binniza’ (Zapotec) community and cosmology, which is reflected in her works. All her projects are aimed at the new generations of Zapotecs with a particular vision inspired by the experiences of her grandmother and mother. She has participated in short films such as “La Balhána” by Xóchitl Enríquez and Na’racala’dexe by Yoari López and Patricia Matus.
TINY
Director: Ritchie Hemphill & Ryan Haché
Canada | 2023
English with subtitles | 17 min
Tiny is a contemplative stop motion film which tells the story of ‘Nakwaxda’xw Elder Colleen Hemphill’s childhood. The film portrays modern day Colleen as she reflects on her past, and re-enacts the stories she tells of her youth, as a young girl growing up on a float-house in the wild and unpredictable Pacific Northwest and its waters. As she retells her story, Colleen notices how different her way of life was when she was young, and how much more harmonious her community was with nature. The film aims to celebrate the life and identity of Colleen by sharing the gift of her presence and stories with audiences.
RITCHIE HEMPHILL
He grew up on Tsulquate reserve and was raised by his community, the Gwa’sala-’Nakwaxda’xw people. Ritchie is both a filmmaker and a recording musician, working to create art that is healing for himself and for his people. He co-founded the film studio Bronfree Films with Ryan Haché in 2015. Ritchie’s goal is to render his people’s traditional stories in a beautiful light through his films.
RYAN HACHÉ
Ryan Haché is a self-taught stop motion animator and short film director working in claymation and 2D animation. His works range from realism to abstract absurdity and macabre humour. Ryan is driven to create alluring oddity in his work hoping to charm people with the innate strangeness of claymation.
With respect and gratitude, the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival acknowledges that it takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.