Lens on Latin America: A filmmaker's Summer in Bolivia

An article.

This summer I had the pleasure of participating in a program called Bolivia: Lens on Latin America. Offered by the School for International Training , this program gave me an opportunity to study filmmaking in Bolivia. We arrived in Bolivia's capital city, La Paz, to visit the Bolivian film archives and meet with prominent Bolivian artists and filmmakers. 

Before I left for Bolivia, seven weeks seemed like a long time. What would I do in a foreign country with ten strangers? Yet my seven weeks in Bolivia flew by too quickly with those ten strangers that I can now call good friends. The time I spent in Bolivia helped me grow intellectually and spiritually.  

From the time we arrived in Cochabamba, where our training began, we were all treated with great Bolivian hospitality. I stayed with the Claros Mayorga family: the father, Ramiro, the mother, Ruth, a daughter, Daniela, and a son, Adrian. They welcomed me and treated me as part of the family. My host siblings were both my age so we got along very well. The eating culture in Cochabamba surprised me the most. Bolivians eat up to five meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch (the main meal of the day), afternoon tea, and dinner.  

After a warm welcome and a short orientation, we started our classes with Ismael Saavedra, an award-winning Bolivian film maker. We watched documentaries that portrayed issues and views of Latin America. At the end of each film, we discussed our thoughts about it and the portrayal of Latin America.  

One documentary, “De Nadie,” describes the struggle of Central American immigrants crossing through Mexico in hopes of getting to the United States. I cried through the whole movie because it made me think of all the people in my life that have suffered through this ordeal. The images and the accounts of the immigrants made everything real and helped me be more thankful and appreciative of their role in my life. 

“Bolivia: Lens on Latin America” made us all aware of conditions in Latin America and showed us the power of documentary films. The movies we watched were both instructional and touching and one of the best aspects of the program was working with Ismael and learning about his intriguing and inspiring life experiences. I started out not sure what I would learn but I gained an awareness that helped me reflect on my life. 

We also visited Copacabana and the surrounding historical sites. We traveled to the beautiful Lake Titicaca and rode a boat across the river to the small border town of Copacabana. In the afternoon, we went to the ancient town of Sampaya. I walked though pre-Colombian roads and saw Incan architecture in all its strength.  

The visit to Sampaya was made even more unforgettable by an archeological site full of four-hundred year old skeletons; The townspeople called them “giants” because they appeared to be seven to eight feet tall! The next day we traveled to the Island of the Sun. According to Andean legends, the Island of the Sun is where life originated, and where a man and a woman were chosen to become the sun and the moon. I felt full of positive energy knowing that I was walking over roads that the legendary Incas had built thousands of years earlier. 
 
Once we returned to Cochabamba, it was time to work on our documentaries. I worked with Saffiyah Madraswala, who attends Barnard College in New York City. We focused on the demands of women as presented to the Constituent Assembly that is writing a new constitution for Bolivia. We interviewed strong, inspiring Bolivian women about the issues affecting them. They have developed a full proposal to the Constituent Assembly based on six principles: equality and no discrimination; fairness and positive Action; the recognition of specific rights; international laws and treaties about women; the democratization and acknowledgement of Domestic Work, and promoting non-sexist language.  

The women told us that many of them had been were unaware of their rights. Others told us they had been marginalized for advocating women's rights. But they kept fighting and will keep fighting until their demands are met because if they don't do it ... Who will?  

Some of the women we interviewed are professional women and some are women who barely had any schooling, a result of the sexist society they grew up in. But all of them are proud of their work and they inspired me to be more passionate about what I do in my life. 

My partner Saffiyah and I completed our documentary, a ten-minute video. What I learned, apart from filming and editing, was the strength of Bolivian women and the importance of fighting for what is important to you even if others think its unnecessary.  

I also learned that the most important thing in filmmaking is casting and time. A great cast can carry your movie and the more time you spend, the better it will be. 

Overall, the whole experience was intriguing and fun. I got to meet ten diverse and amazing college students that, just I did, learned more about themselves and had the opportunity to grow as conscientious human beings. I hope to return to Bolivia and continue experiencing the amazing things that Bolivia has to offer.