"New identities are under construction" | Georgi …

After boarding icaros, the spiritual world of the Shipibo people in Peru, the director Georgina Barreiro He went to India with the producer and photographer Matías Roth in search of a narrative. A graduate of the UBA career in image and sound design, she met the end of the journey with the community of Khechuperi, where Barreiro discovered what attracts her the most: the issue of isolated communities and ancestral traditions. "We fell in a few days on the occasion of a Tibetan Buddhist ceremony and a festival in the village Got Talent format.It is very curious to see how the Hindu pop has arrived in such an isolated place. is a tradition At the same time, it was funny that in the same space, there were ritual songs mixed with the deformed loudspeaker of the music ", explains the director who expressed such an experience The imprint of Tara. There he explores this sacred city immersed in the Himalayas and focuses on the lives of four brothers. The film begins this Thursday in the Sala Leopoldo Lugones of San Martín Theater.

-If you consider that in icaros You have approached the spiritual world of the Peruvian Shipibo and you are now reflecting what is happening in the Khechuperi community. Are the spiritual universes the subject that brings you the most?

-Of course, especially the traditions. I think every time we do more, and I'm very interested in disclosing that information to the public.

– Would you define it as an observational documentary or when you're going up dramatic scenes more like fiction?

From the formal point of view, this seems like a fiction, but everything that happens is documentary, it's real. Perhaps there were scenes that we sought to guide and to stage two characters. Every day, at the end of the day, we translated and knew what was going on.

-You speak the language?

-No. We spoke English and the teenage protagonist translated us into a precarious English medium. Similarly, the translation was used for editing. It was important

– During this trip, did you meet this community?

-Yes, during the first trip, we met this family. At first, I was very interested in a Lama who had escaped from the Tibetan Dalai Lama. He is the grandfather of the boys in the movie. That's the character who attracted us. But in filming, the film began to focus more on the children's point of view. Then, the other was more relegated.

-How did you manage to convince to film a community that seems to be held in time?

-In the first trip, Matías took many pictures. We started to be there and we contacted the youngest boy, who is connected to Facebook and WhatsApp. And he started telling us that he wanted us to film. We had the idea. And this has arisen from one year to the next. In fact, we started developing it in the middle of the year and we had to get the money for the return in February, the festival. Although the festival was an excuse because it was a starting point to tell the story. It served us, but the film went the other way.

– What was there particular in the filming, which at first seems complex to film there?

– Already of itself when you film in isolated places, you have the subject of light. To get there, it took us a week from Buenos Aires, flying to Mumbai; from where trains, other planes, jeeps up to the city accessible by walking or jeep. We stayed in a house in the mountains 20 minutes walk. Every day, it was difficult to get in and out of the city, with equipment because we are not used to it. We ate what the mother of the boys cooked. They grow their own vegetables, so it was almost the best part. I like that kind of shooting – which also happened with icaros– Since we are all in the same place, we absorb the energy. There was also a more intimate contact with people because we lived with them.

-How was your relationship with Buddhism?

-I actually met him in Buenos Aires. My partner is a Tibetan Buddhist and I started to internalize the subject a bit. I am very interested in philosophy. And those you said spiritual worlds, I'm very interested to see how they connect.

-C is a movie where, one way or another, generational differences are shown, is not it?

-C is the point we are looking for at the end of the meeting. He was looking for scenes reflecting, for example, the use of cell phones. What is interesting is that this region, Sikkim, joined India in '75. It is very recent. So this identity is also under construction. There is a lot of Indian influence that did not exist before. The parents lived another story, walked barefoot, something else.

– In a way, you have established a relationship between the ancestral past and the present technological and modern boys, right?

-The idea was that too. They follow the tradition, the boy is the monk, but the teenager also borrowed the same path, he was also a monk. Then, the philosophy of religion is transmitted between the generations. And even if they are seen with mobile phones, the idea of ​​the film is to show that they always know the history of their place, everyone knows how to do a ritual. Philosophy goes through them every day.

– Do these communities live a transitional moment in this direction?

-Yes, totally. Beyond the sociopolitical nature of the union with India, many leave communities looking for work, especially the younger generations. There is also a very interesting topic of education with girls. Even in this house, it was very important that the girls go to school so that they can also work. Before, women were more relegated to the house. That is, there is also a change in gender awareness.

-What role does the landscape play in this story?

-For me, it's one more character. Back in India, many qualities are attributed to some sacred mountains, which are entities. And a little for me, that's it: the mountain, the fog, in addition to time, are active characters.

-Was this movie was made in more ways than one?

-Yes, especially going to India is very transformative. I find it very interesting to see how they approach death from an early age. We even saw how the little monks, aged 5, stayed all night playing instruments with the body next to them. Or they teach them death at school and I find that very revealing.