Willaq Pirqa: the film that reminds us of the value of indigenous languages

‘Will Wall’ is screened in just one cinema chain.

Five weeks have passed since the commercial release of ‘Willaq Pirqa. The cinema of my town’ and since then a network has been built to promote the film, mainly from social networks. The increase in viewers allowed more theaters to open in regions such as Lambayeque, Junín and Arequipa, but it is surprising that in the case of a film entirely in Quechua it is not available in any city where this language predominates.

Being Cusco the region where the tape was recorded and which concentrates more than 1.7 million Quechua speakers, the work of César Galindo was available for just one week. The premiere not only had to face the arrival of ‘Avatar. The path of water’ and ‘Atrapada’, but also to the political crisis in Peru. It was precisely the navel of the world one of the cities where the population demonstrated against the government of the day.

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After the confrontations and the imposed curfew, the Cineplanet chain has not replaced the room where the film was projected, thus depriving thousands of people from Cusco to enjoy it, including the protagonist himself. Víctor Acurio, who gives life to little Sistu, told Infobae that he hopes that soon his countrymen and all those with whom he shares the same language will have the opportunity to live the experience of seeing ‘Willaq Pirqa’.

Scene from ‘Wall Wall’ tape entirely in Quechua by César Galindo.

The first time the film was screened was also the first time that Víctor Acurio saw a film in the cinema. At that first moment it was exciting to see his own face on a giant screen, but after watching other tapes in other languages, hearing his language through the speakers became quite an event. The link that he could create with that story, which he already knew in detail, became even stronger.

“When I watch ‘Willaq Pirqa’ my comprehension is faster than when I watch ‘Avatar’ because I have to read the subtitles and concentrate on the video. I was also able to see ‘La luz del diablo’ and although it is a film in Spanish, concentration is needed to fully understand it”, Acurio said, later highlighting the pride that he feels at seeing not only himself represented, but also the world that has surrounded him since little.

You may be interested: Willaq Pirqa: the best Peruvian film of 2022 has just five theaters nationwide

Despite the limited number of theaters set up so far, ‘Willaq Pirqa’ aspires to reach as many corners of the country as possible, especially those where Quechua is spoken. There are 3,799,780 Peruvians to reach, citizens to whom cinema offers the opportunity to see themselves and feel represented on that screen where white skin and a foreign language have predominated for decades.

Cast of ‘Willaq Pirqa’ representing the village’s visit to the cinema hall

“I would like the film to be in provinces where languages ​​other than Spanish are spoken because they live there with whom the story is most similar. The movie could be better understood for the meaning it brings. ‘Willaq Pirqa’ makes us see our Peru from another point of view, from the community, nature, customs and landscapes”, added Acurio in conversation with Infobae.

If the Oscar for ‘Parasite’ served to remind us that there is a valuable entertainment offer beyond Hollywood, ‘Willaq Pirqa’ has done something similar with the Peruvian public and has shown them a face of the Andean world different from the one we usually find in movies . This tender, mature and dreamy facet expands the horizons of those of us who comfortably watch the film from the city.

‘La casa rosada’, ‘La boca del lobo’, ‘Paloma de papel’, ‘La última noticia’, ‘La teta asustada’ showed an ande that went through or lived through the consequences of the fight against terrorism at the end of the last century . Years later, films like ‘Retablo’ arrived, which ventured to address the LGBTIQ+ problem or ‘Wiñaypacha’ which, narrated entirely in Aymara, showed the effects of migration on an elderly couple.

Cast of ‘Willaq Pirqa’ representing the village’s visit to the cinema hall

It may interest you: “Willaq Pirqa”: the most beautiful cinema through the eyes of a child from the Peruvian highlands

For its part, ‘Willaq Pirqa’ retains a small amount of drama in its story, but in this story the comedy told from the innocence of a child predominates. The film confirms that in the Andes one not only suffers, but also enjoys, laughs, dreams and, in the face of the walls imposed by the Westernized world, seeks a way to circumvent them. It is, in other words, the representation of a reality that, being so close, we felt so far away.

The story is a shock to city dwellers, but for those of us who grew up surrounded by Quechua and never learned it, it feels like a slap in the face. What Bong Joon-Ho said about the opportunity to discover wonderful films once the subtitles barrier has been overcome becomes even more concrete and a kind of envy is born for those who fully enjoy the story that resembles those heard at the dinner table. of home.

‘Willaq Pira’ continues to battle with blockbuster films in movie theaters and although the world of social networks is none other than a closed circuit, it has been of great help in increasing the flow of viewers. But there is still more to achieve, in addition to keeping the film on the big screen, it is necessary to find a way for that talking wall to continue its journey where it will be fully understood.

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