San Fabián was the setting for the presentation of the documentary “Huella Ancestral” along with the website where the work is exhibited along with additional material recorded on the journey. The project was financed by the Ñuble Regional Fondart, Call 2023.
The registration was carried out at the end of November 2023. To define the route, the climate and accessibility of the road were taken into account. “As it had been a rainy year, the flooding of rivers and estuaries could prevent us from reaching our destination. The beginning of the journey began in the Pichirrincón sector, from there the journey on horseback began to the junction of the Las Tragedias and González estuaries. In that place the work of Horacio Almuna Ovadilla in cattle raising was recorded. The next morning the horseback ride continued through the Las Tragedias valley until reaching the waterfall of the same name. Along the way, some interviews were recorded with Miguel Almuna, a former mule driver who is now dedicated to tourism. Both testimonies became the narrative structure of the documentary,” says audiovisual director David Quezada Candia.
The audiovisual narration of “Huella ancestral” was created through the spontaneous use of the camera. “We didn’t have a script, nor did we know what we were going to find along the way; In this way, the audiovisual record was a kind of collection of images of a route, a simile of the muleteer collecting medicinal herbs or utensils, but in this case as a collector of light. The splicing between each shot marked the rhythm of the montage and the spatial jumps that provide dynamism to the narrative and that make the story follow its zigzagging course, like the winding riverbed of the Ñuble. As we delved into the Las Tragedias valley, the surprising nature, forests, estuaries, hills, everything in general, made us build a story focused on the bond of the mule driver with his environment, there we found his worldview, knowledge and disappointments. Characteristics that define his identity, values and deep roots in his territory,” adds Quezada.
muleteer culture
On behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Seremi Scarlet Hidalgo stated that “we are happy to be able to finance projects such as Huella Ancestral, where it is possible to know and value other identities of Ñuble. We know a lot about the culture of the central valley of our region linked to the peasant world, but we cannot forget that Ñuble is also a coast and mountain range. With this creative work we can make visible and disseminate the muleteer culture of our mountain territory around which there is knowledge and traditions that have been transmitted from generation to generation. It is our task as the Ministry of Cultures to highlight all cultural diversities.”
Filmmaking team
The project was led by audiovisual producer David Quezada Candia, who has lived in the region since 2015 and has developed continuous work linked to the arts and cultural management in San Fabián, where the “El Canto de Luz” initiative stands out. , highlighting the poet Luz Montecinos through peasant songs, and the founding of the Maitenal School Cultural Center, which consisted of the recovery of a rural school that was abandoned for the adaptation of a community meeting space. The rest of the filmmaking team was made up of Karina Duarte López in production, Álvaro Hernández Castillo in photography, Jorge González Saldivia in sound, Kora Menegoz as guide and environmental consultant and Sebastián Grez Moreno in composing the original music.
