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https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-anime-indigenous-quichua-257babd7c4057b7b989e391e39e752bb>
"JATUN RUMI, Ecuador (
AP) — High in the mountains of the Ecuadorian Andes, a
group of young Otavalo Indigenous people is using anime to inspire pride in
their ancient culture and language, especially among Otavalo children.
They produced an animated short film titled “We’re Aya” that follows the
adventures of Aya, a mythical Otavalo warrior, and other characters who
interact under the watchful eye of a condor — an iconic bird for Andean
Indigenous cultures that symbolizes power and energy.
Inspired by the work of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, the story
takes place in the mountains of Imbabura, a province in the northern Andes that
is home to the Otavalo people, known for their handicrafts and textiles.
Tupac Amaru, director and producer of the 9-minute film, said the movie is part
of an effort to maintain Otavalo customs and language, which began to erode as
globalization created a more interconnected world and influenced their culture.
His people faced two options, “lock ourselves out (from the world) and defend
our culture, language, spirituality and clothing or stand tall and fight back,”
Amaru said.
The film with 12 Quichua-speaking characters is a first step in trying to get
Otavalo children to appreciate their heritage, he said. Indigenous themes have
been explored before in short and feature-length films produced in Peru and
Ecuador but most of those films have had Spanish-speaking characters.
“Quichua is the vibration that gives meaning to existence and without the
language, the meaning of life and our energy comes to an end,” Amaru said.
“Our children no longer know Quichua,” which means they have lost a
communication tool and “are losing their sense of belonging, their energy,” he
added.
Quichua, an Indigenous language that is part of the Quechua language family, is
primarily spoken in Ecuador.
Yarik Sisa, creative manager for the film, said the story is inspired by
ancestral practices that have survived the passage of time, including taking
musical instruments to energetic points of the land the night before a
celebration so that the instruments are endowed with “soul.”"
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
