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06 September 2024 – 04:17
Asuncion, Sep 5 (EFE).- The eighth edition of the International Environmental and Human Rights Film Festival kicked off in Asuncion on Thursday with the screening of productions from Paraguay, Canada and Switzerland, a space that seeks to put the public’s attention on issues related to human development, its organizers said.
The short film ‘Río Arriba’, which paid tribute to Paraguayan audiovisual director Amancay Stumpfs, who passed away last July at the age of 28, kicked off the exhibition that will take place until Saturday at the Juan de Salazar Cultural Center of Spain.
The Canadian production ‘Taiñ Rvpv (Our Path)’, from the Mapuche School of Film and Communication (2021), and the Swiss feature film ‘Take and Run (Take and Run)/ Ala Kachuu’ were also featured on the opening day.
Regarding this event, which has been held since 2016 in Paraguay and is organized by the DerHumALC Multimedia Institute of Argentina (IMD), Leandro Martínez, coordinator of the festival, said that it has been conceived as “a driving force to make visible many issues that have to do with human development,” including indigenous culture, LGBTIQ+ issues and the climate crisis.
“We believe that there is still not enough public conversation about this and films are a great engine to bring stories from other countries and also local stories,” said Martínez, who considered that the productions allow for fostering dialogues and bringing up new topics so that the public “can start talking about them.”
The selection includes Paraguayan productions ‘Olivia’, by director Alejandro Miguel Suárez; ‘Hijas de Púa’, by producer and director Sady Barrios; and ‘Guapo’, by director Sofía Paoli Thorne.
The short films ‘In the periphery’, ‘Waiting room’, ‘Irondy’, ‘Pohã Jagua’ and ‘They are not alone’ will also be shown.
In parallel, there will be an online programme, which brings together 12 productions from Argentina, Switzerland, Canada and Paraguay. There will also be a discussion on the social impact of the audiovisual sector, with the participation of Laura Longobardi, who is co-director of the Geneva International Human Rights Film Festival (FIFDH).
Asked about the festival, the political, economic and public affairs counselor of the Canadian Embassy in Paraguay, Jonathan Sauvé, told EFE that this festival offers a “perfect opportunity to talk about difficult issues in a pleasant way.”
The festival has, among others, the support of the Swiss and Canadian Embassies in Paraguay. EFE
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