Wiñaypacha, the Peruvian feature film by Oscar Catacora took the awards for “Best Debut Feature” and the “Mayahuel award for Best Photography” in the Ibero-American Fiction Feature Film category at the recent edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (GIFF). It also won the FEISAL award (American Federation of Image and Sound Schools) for Best Director at the same event. This award is for filmmakers under 35. Wiñaypacha has won three awards at the FICG according to PROMPERU (The Peruvian Commission for Promoting Exports and Tourism). 

The film Wiñaypacha was filmed entirely in Aymara, an indigenous Peruvian language, and tells the story of a couple of old people in the Peruvian Andes who deal with the sadness of having been abandoned by their son. Filming took place over five weeks in the town of Allincapac. The town is in the province of Carabaya, in the Puno region in the south of Peru 5,000 meters above sea level.

The director Oscar Catacora says that the film is based on the time when he lived with his grandparents in the Puno highlands and witnessed how they longed for their absent children. In order to faithfully recreate his experience in the film, Catacora chose as his actors a pair of old people from the area, and this was a great challenge for the director.

“We knew that directing the actors would be difficult because Aymarans can’t lie and for them acting is like a lie.” That’s why the actors were told to think of it as “play” in order to film the scenes”, said Oscar Catacora.

The director was very moved by the awards. “I feel very happy with the result of the festival, and very grateful for the support. Without this support and belief Wiñaypacha (Eternity) would not have been possible. This is a dream come true, the chance to show a dream, to make it real” says Catacora.

The Peruvian feature film was produced with state funding, through the Peruvian Ministry of Culture’s Film Works and Projects Competition.

Trailer Wiñaypacha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGyQF-QPr8A

For more information go to: https://peru.info/filminperu

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ABOUT PROMPERU

PROMPERU is the Ministry for Overseas Trade and Tourism’s specialist technical body responsible for promoting Peru’s exports, tourism and image. Its mission is to position Peru in the world through promoting its image, tourist destinations, and export products with added value, in the process contributing to the sustainable development and decentralization of the country.

ABOUT THE GUADALAJARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (GIFF)

The Guadalajara International Film Festival is a major cultural event both for the city and the country, acting as a showcase for appreciating, promoting and distributing Mexican and South American cinema.

Link to the FICG website: https://www.ficg.mx/