Yana Wara, Peru’s submission to the International Academy Awards, follows the lonely life of a young Aymara girl who suffers an astonishing accumulation of misfortunes in the course of the film. Losing both her parents, she lives with her remaining relative, her well-meaning grandfather, Evaristo. The film explores the nefarious influence of malignant spirits and the ancestral beliefs that keep an isolated Aymara community alive and resilient in a harsh environment.
The girl’s name, Yana Wara, means Morning Star, and her community lives in the remote Conduriri region, on the Andes mountains plains, leaving her vulnerable and isolated. Despite the tragedies that mark her birth and childhood, she spends her days peacefully knitting and tending to domestic chores, like her herd of llamas in the majestic landscape of Peru’s highlands.
All actors are local non-professionals, led by the stunning Luz Diana Mamani, who at 13 years of age delivers a challenging yet convincing performance as an abused girl descending into mute madness. Her grandfather is played by Cecilio Quispe with stoic tenderness, his wind-worn, wrinkled face framing expressive eyes. The cinematography is in austere black and white, enhancing the timeless quality of the story. Dialogue is minimal, but reiterative to the point of sounding more like invocations or incantations, especially during the scenes of the trial that bookends the narrative, where community justice is dispensed. The supporting roles are played by first-time actors from the same village, giving the story authenticity and poignancy.
Initially the film was directed by Oscar Catacora, who wrote the script and directed the cinematography until his tragic death shortly after filming began. He died of acute appendicitis at the age of 34 while filming Yana Wara in the remote location of Conduriri, far from any medical services. His uncle Tito Catacora stepped in to rescue and complete the project, following his nephew’s script. Tito Catacora had collaborated with Oscar on their previous films, including the box office success Winaypacha (2017) and the documentary Pakucha (2021). Oscar’s untimely death seems like a premonition of events unfolding in the plot: Yana Wara’s parents both die, and so does her unborn child. The story slowly reveals both the causes and consequences of such calamities.
Yet the film itself survived Oscar’s death, and the result is an emotionally compelling work told in a series of dramatic tableaux, spoken wholly in the Aymara language. There is no added music, and the soundtrack becomes more meaningful with its sparse dialogue, the haunting sounds of the windy Andean plateau, and the eerie curses or laughter that the evil spirit, known as Anchunchu, inflicts on the terrified girl inside a spooky cavern. The villagers act as a Greek chorus, sometimes silently watching the flowing river, other times joining in the punishment meted out to the culprit.
One of the few signs of “modernity” is the village school, where the teacher metes out violent punishments and inflicts lasting harm on Yana Wara. The single school room displays a phrase on its wall that is used to justify corporal punishment in schools: “La letra con sangre entra” (loosely, “literacy requires bloodshed,” a harsher version of the English, “spare the rod and spoil the child”).
The phrase is also the title of one of Francisco Goya’s paintings – from the 1780’s, depicting a violent whipping in a classroom. Yana Wara’s cinematography is reminiscent of Goya’s unforgiving, chiaroscuro style. The culture clash is initially introduced through the soundtrack: the quiet life of llama herders is disrupted by the roar of a motorcycle, bringing the teacher to his student-victims. His clothes and prominent wristwatch signal him as an outsider to the close-knit community, in contrast to the traditional dress and idioms of the well-meaning families that bring their children to school hoping they will learn useful skills.
Peruvian filmmakers have mostly focused on urban stories, sometimes adapted from novels by Peru’s Nobel winner Mario Vargas Llosa, such as The City and the Dogs by Francisco Lombardi (La ciudad y los perros, 1985), or Luis Llosa’s The Feast of the Goat (La fiesta del chivo, 2005, set in the Dominican Republic). Gradually, indigenous filmmakers and stories appear more frequently, despite the fact that mainstream Peruvian cinema mostly follows standard Hollywood genres, particularly action-filled comedies. The Aymara and Quechua cultures have featured in some prominent films over the years, as far back as Bolivia’s Blood of the Condor (1969) and as recently as Utama (2022), and audiences now seem more willing to embrace narratives that feature them.
Native American screenwriter Sherman Alexei (Smoke Signals, 1998) writes “It is always now, that is what Indian time is. The past, the future, all wrapped up in the now.” That premise will help the Yana Wara viewers endure watching the girl’s long agony, her grandfather’s heartbreaking decision, and the villagers’ merciless trial. And hopefully (with some Brechtian suspension of disbelief) perhaps emerge unscathed and with a better understanding of the abuses suffered by the isolated Andean indigenous communities.
Directors: Oscar Catacora, Tito Catacora
Scriptwriter: Oscar Catacora
Cast: Luz Diana Mamami, Cecilio Quispe, Juan Choquehuanca, Irma Percca, Jose Calisaya
Sound: Diego Julca
Producer: Tito Catacora
Cinematography: Julio Gonzalez, Oscar and Tito Catacora
Editing: Tito Catacora
Art Direction: Hilaria Catacora
Production companies: Cine Aymara Studios
Press Contact: Kathleen McInnis, See-Through Films LLC
Peru, 2024
In Aymara
104 minutes
