YANA-WARA
Click on the image above to watch this exclusive interview with film director Tito Catacora about his latest film Yana-Wara for the Creators Edition.
Yana-Wara is a 13-year-old girl touched by evil, tormented and harassed in reality and also by evil entities that need to be exorcised. Don Evaristo, her grandfather, in his desire to save his beloved granddaughter from a terrible destiny full of pain, makes an extreme decision that transcends the entire community.
In this interview visionary film director Tito Catacora discusses his choices, influences, and his unique filmmaking process.
As an additional bonus we delve into the director’s personal Cabinet of Curiosities, a selection of favourite inspirations which are full of surprises and fascinating insights.
Yana-Wara is a film of tremendous power, a filmmaking tour de force and Peru’s official submission for the 97th Academy Awards® & 39 Edición Premios Goya.
WATCH TRAILER ABOVE
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Yana-Wara is a story that motivates us to know the essence of the Aymara culture, its cultural values that are uncommon and often not understood by societies outside this culture. It is estimated that in Peru, Bolivia and Chile, there are more than two million people who speak the Aymara language.
The film discusses problems such as mental health, violence against women, lack of education and justice. In these conditions, the inhabitants often turn to the practice of magical-religious mysticism to alleviate these ills. In this sense. Yana-Wara is a story about the mysticism of the Andean cosmovision.
The film introduces the “Anchanchu”, an evil spirit. While the Andean world is a place where there are evil spirits, there are also benign ones. That is the basic premise of the film and, according to Andean logic, everything that exists in the “Pacha”, in the world, has life: the river, the lake, the mountain, a stone, a car or a house. We can feel if our house is happy, sad or angry. Even for us, this film has life.
We also talk about intercultural justice, which is different from ordinary justice. In the communities many problems are solved in one day, always looking for what is fair. If all problems were to reach the ordinary justice system, it would take a long time. With intercultural justice, mistakes can be made, yes, but there are also successes, which is the case we see in the film.
We believe that the film is important because it has social and cultural relevance in Peru, which is a country with great cultural diversity. In addition, through its story it denounces the transgressions that are suffering the cultural values of the Andean people who live in the highlands in the Aymara area. Finally, Yana-Wara promotes social awareness for the protection of the rights of women, children and adolescents.
Film Director Tito Catacora
Running time: 20 minutes
Interview by: The Lab Mag
Film: Yana-Wara
Director: Tito Catacora
In Association with Film in Peru (PROMPERÚ)
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