Almost 30 years after the end of the civil war in Guatemala, many crimes remain unsolved. An exemplary site for Guatemala’s past is Rio Negro. In the 1980s, the residents of Rio Negro, Mayas from the Achí community, resisted the expropriation of their land and the relocation of their village, which was to make way for a dam project. During the so-called counterinsurgency led by dictator Ríos Montt, the village suffered several massacres, resulting in the deaths of over 400 people. Some of the identified perpetrators were later convicted, and the state was ordered to pay reparations, which have only been partially implemented.
Join us for a conversation with filmmakers Anna-Sophia Richard and Joaquin Ruano, who will discuss their work with the Rio Negro community, emphasizing the importance of remembrance and the ongoing challenges the village faces. Anna-Sophia began her journey with the community over 15 years ago, gaining deep insights into their lives and the changes occurring there. Meanwhile, Guatemalan producer Joaquin Ruano has a long history of making films with indigenous communities and advocating for transitional justice and political change in Guatemala. Watch the trailer of their film about the Rio Negro community here: rionegrofilm.de/trailer
JOAQUÍN RUANO
Joaquin Ruano pursued screenwriting at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica –CCC– (México) and Film Production at the Brighton Film School. He has worked in the production team of at least 20 feature films in Guatemala and México. He is founder of Cine Concepción, where he has produced feature films like, Distancia (Coral Award of Opera Prima Festival of Havana) and 1991 by Sergio Ramírez, La asfixia of Ana Bustamante (Special Jury Prize, FICG, Fipresci Award, IFF Panama, and Fipresci prize and audience award BAFICI); Our Mothers of César Díaz (Camera d`Or, Cannes 2019), Roza of Andres Rodríguez (Best Film Guanajuato IFF) and the projects under development Nosotros and Rio Negro. He has directed short films such as Y no piensa parar, Hasta la falla and After the city. His first feature, Nosotros, was selected in the BrLab development workshop, he also won the Best Pitch award in Trinidad and Tobago Pitching. He was also selected at the FICG 2019 Co-production Meeting in Guadalajara, where he received the Sanfic award. In Sanfic he received the prize of the Malaga Coproduction Meeting. Nosotros also obtained the Ibermedia Production Fund. His shortfilm ‘The city we occupy’ is an official selection in the Havana Film Festival and Toulouse Cinelatino.
ANNA SOPHIA RICHARD
Anna-Sophia was born in the Dominican Republic and spent her childhood between the Dominican Republic, Germany and Guatemala. In Guatemala, she was trained at Casa Comal film school and gained her first experiences in film. She worked in production at the international film festival ICARO, was assistant director, and carried out her own short film projects. In 2013 she began her studies in directing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. During this time she made short and feature-length films that tell of social injustices, especially against women. Her film IN MEINER HAUT addresses gender-based domestic violence from the perspective of women. The cinema and television film LOS CUATRO VIENTOS is Anna-Sophia Richard‘s graduate project. The film reveals how difficult migration can be for Dominican families. Anna-Sophia’s films have been showcased at numerous international festivals, garnering several awards. She participated in the IDFAcademy in 2022 and the Berlinale Talent Program in 2023. She is a member of the European Film Academy and Film Fatales. In addition to her filmmaking, she serves as a jury member for festivals and as a speaker. Her films are rooted in the countries central to her biography.
