Description:

"AHINAM CHAY" was filmed between October and November of 1987 in the Peruvian Sierra, 130 km from Cuzco, ancient capital of the Inca Empire. The film explores a literacy program, run primarily by Indigenous women, which draws upon elements of the women’s own culture to teach reading and writing in both Spanish and Quechua. The innovative methodology uses the literacy program as a forum through which to address issues of sex, gender and reproductive health. In this way, the program contributes to a process of cultural revitalization among the women and their communities.


Biography:

Juan Santiago Vergara Salas studied film and anthropology in Chile, Cuba and France. His work has appeared on television, in print and in film, winning international awards for its treatment of such varied topics as film theory, gender, and Indigenous peoples of Latin America.

Isabel Hernández has published ten books and over seventy articles on education, sociology, and art. She has taught at universities throughout the world, and held positions at the University of Buenos Aires as director of the Department of Social Anthropology and the researcher at Population Fund of the United Nations.

Rodrigo Iván Sepúlveda S. is an actor, musician, dancer, director, photographer, cinematographer and critic. Sepulveda has studied in Chile, Argentina and Ecuador, and worked extensively in film, video, theater, television, and radio.


Contact Information:

Isabel Hernandez, Producer
CEPAL
Comision Economica para America Latina y el Caribe
Av. Dag Hammarskjold
s/n, Casilla Postal 179-D
Phone: (54-2) 2102020
2102000
Fax: (56-2) 2080196
E-mail: ihernandez@eclac.cl
Web site: www.eclac.org/celade-eng