“The documentary Qhuta Mama (Mother Lake) portrays the constant struggle of the community to preserve its way of life and culture, threatened by increasing water pollution and the devastating effects of climate change,” highlights a press release from the Center for the Cultural Revolution on Tuesday.
The publication adds that the work highlights the resilient action of inhabitants of the shores of Lake Titicaca, who have revived an ancient practice that has fallen into disuse: the ritual of Qhuta Mama.
This action, considered sacred, reinforces the spiritual connection between the people and the lake, and is celebrated with unique music and dance, indigenous to this region.
The film, made as a documentary, will premiere this Thursday at the facilities of the Genaro Jorge Monje de la Riva school, in the Cohana Grande community of the Los Andes province, La Paz department, in western Bolivia, with free admission.
According to the institutional report, “through this ritual, the young people of the community reaffirm their identity as qhuta jaqi (people of the lake), remembering that the destiny of their land is in their own hands.”
The film was selected in the context of the Second Call for the Promotion of Productivity and Artistic Creation 2024, sponsored by the Center for the Cultural Revolution (CRC), dependent on the Cultural Foundation of the Central Bank of Bolivia.
This work was filmed in the native Aymara language in the community of San Pedro, in the Cohana canton, the first municipal section of Pucarani on the smaller lake Titicaca.
The CRC also highlights that the documentary captures the vibrant colors and contrasts of the textiles, using underwater and aerial shots to deepen the visual metaphor of the relationship between the community and the Qhuta Mama.
Patricio Luna, originally from the province of Pacajes, department of La Paz, is a prominent cultural activist.
His short fiction films and documentaries, often produced in the Aymara language, address indigenous life and have been shown at film festivals in Latin America, Europe and the United States.
Luna is the founder of the Aymara Saphi Aru Education and Communication Center, a member of the Indigenous Audiovisual Coordinator of Bolivia (CAIB), which promotes the self-representation of the 36 native peoples of the Andean Amazonian country through the production of videos.
Among his most notable creations are the documentaries “Chuñu Wara” (The Chuño Festival) (1998) and the short fiction film “Qulqi Chaliku” (1999), which address democracy, livestock, ethnic discrimination and indigenous legends.
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