Ecuadorian short film about sexual abuse wins competition and will be presented at the Ecuadorian Film Festival in New York

The sexual abuse of a child and his process to overcome that trauma he shares with his mother is the story told by the short film that won the Historias por Contar contest. It was directed by young Cuencans Gabriel Zhiminaicela and Christian Espinoza.

The Embassy and Consulate of the United States in Ecuador, with the support of the Fundación de Ayuda por Internet (Fundapi), organized this contest that also included the training of documentalists and the financing of their projects.

Five short films participated in this contest and addressed various topics: the challenges of artisanal fishermen, victims of violation of the Monster of the Andes, the contamination of the Salado estuary and the story of overcoming a coffee producer in Loja.

Each of these five groups was made up of a journalist and an audiovisual communicator. In June of this year, the US Embassy and Consulate announced the call for this program through social networks (@usembassyec) and the website https://historiasporcontar.ec/.

There were 220 applications. As part of the selection process, interested parties had to propose audiovisual project ideas. From this entire group, journalist-audiovisual producer pairs were formed so that each one would be enriched by the knowledge and experiences of the other.

Each team selected a research topic and produced a short film over three months. Each received $2,000 to carry out their project.

The criteria that were taken into account to select the proposals were the following:

1. That the project addresses very current problems.
2. Focus on challenges shared by the US and Ecuador.
3. That they are feasible to execute in the time that the program lasts and with the available resources.

For three months, the teams received mentoring through monthly personalized virtual sessions.

From September 19 to 23, the American mentors were in Guayaquil to train the five teams in person. Then, a jury made up of investigative journalists, an audiovisual producer and a film critic chose the best short film, which was awarded on Friday, September 23. The winning short film will be presented at the Ecuadorian Film Festival of New York in October of this year.

In the second phase of the ‘Stories to Tell’ programme, the teams will partner with universities in their home cities, where they will have the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to journalism and film students and professors.

the mentors

The ‘Stories to Tell’ program offers the opportunity for cross-training: storytelling and audiovisual production for journalists and investigative skills for documentalists. Her mentors are Diane Tsai, a journalist and documentarian for the magazine Timeand Lara Stolman, also a documentary filmmaker.

Tsai, a Taiwanese-American, is a senior producer of Time. She is a producer of firsts, an award-winning documentary series about 46 innovative women, from Hillary Clinton to Serena Williams, which was named Pictures of the Year International’s Documentary Project of the Year. She is also a producer, cinematographer and editor of Evidence of Things Unseen, a short documentary from Ties Studios featuring an Iraq War veteran and former President George W. Bush. He graduated from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and resides in New York City.

“I am here as a cultural ambassador with the American Film Showcase, the United States Embassy in Ecuador and Fundapi doing a program together with Laura Stolman. I have been very impressed and inspired by working with the teams. Their wide variety of stories, styles and forms of arrival and the level of thought they put into the stories and reports has been a great experience. We’ve had very deep and interesting conversations about the best way to tell each film.”says Tsai.

Furthermore, each film, says Tsai, forces the viewer to take a moment to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. “And observe the life they live and their perspective on the world. I think it is very valuable to learn more about the world, learn from other points of view, have empathy with what other people are going through and continue to educate ourselves.

Lara is an award-winning film and television director, producer and writer. Her work has appeared in theaters, on Netflix, PBS, nbcMSNBC, AMC, VH-1 and the website of The New York Times. She comments about ‘Stories to Tell’. “We work together with a team of documentalists and support with mentoring. Films are a very powerful tool for journalists and journalism working on social issues. If audiences can empathize with the characters in a movie, they can be motivated to act.”

The participating films

a body on the sea

Address: Gabriel Zhiminaicela and Christian Espinoza. Short contest winner.

Synopsis: Christian has just suffered a new emotional crisis, so he decides to undertake a surprise trip to see the sea for the first time. Once there, he hopes to get over the rape he suffered as a child, put his fears behind him, and assume his identity. Meanwhile, the diffuse memories of what happened are taking shape and becoming incarnated in his present. So he decides to write a letter to his abuser in an attempt to confront him with guilt and speak out for the first time.

High seas

Address: Michael Lojano and Gabriela Borbor

Synopsis: From the age of 12 to the present, Fátima has worked as an artisanal fisherman in the Anconcito commune. We will discover the challenges and insecurity that she faces in her daily work and how she has been surviving in an activity considered only for men.

The salty

Address: Lenín Molina and Íngrid Estrella

Synopsis: The Salado estuary, the arm of the sea that runs through Guayaquil from north to south, was, until before the city began to grow, the source of work for fishermen who collected oysters, crabs, fish and other products that sustained their families during decades. Contamination is imminent.

but i have coffee

Address: Diego Paladines and Valeria Idrovo

Synopsis: At 78, Servio Pardo continues to grow coffee, as he has done all his life, on a small farm near Cariamanga (Loja). When he was young he migrated to another province with his family. He returned after six years to recover the family inheritance and participate in the Taza Dorada contest, which rewards the quality of coffee production in Ecuador. Although he won the contest in 2016, lately he has not achieved the necessary score to succeed again. He has no technology or resources, his family is far away, he lives alone most of the year.

encounter with a murderer

Address: Galo Semblantes and Claudia Valdivieso

Synopsis: Despite having confessed to the rape and murder of more than 300 girls, Pedro Alonso López was released after fourteen years thanks to the Ecuadorian justice system. Edith Jácome fights to remember the Ecuadorian justice that released the Monster of the Andes, the serial killer who also killed his sister.