One-Time Ecuadorean Revolutionary Premieres Documentary About the Movement

Currently underway, the 14th edition of Ecuador's annual Encounters from the Other Cinema Festival, also known as Edoc, showcases 121 entries from around the world. But one of the most anticipated films is home-grown.

Alfaro Vive Carajo premieres Friday May 29th in Quito and encores June 3rd and June 6th in Guayaquil. It's not only the topic of the film  - the armed struggle in the country between 1983 and 1991 - that is exciting people. It's also the fact that the person who made the two-hour documentary was formerly a member of the revolutionary guerrilla group that gives the film its title. The group was alternatively known as Fuerzas Armadas Populares Eloy Alfaro (Eloy Alfaro Popular Armed Forces).



From a report by teleSUR:

The film tells the story of the armed struggle, state repression and the ultimate downfall of the movement through testimonies of ex-combatants, who share stories of the torture and imprisonment they were subjected to, and assassination of fellow members. "We want to unmask the repression that was hidden, so that this never happens again," says director
Mauricio Samaniego. "So that there is a consciousness that the state, that the government cannot act outside the law, commit assassinations and torture."

"This is not an act of revenge on our part, the intention is just that this never happens again."

The film shines a light on the state-sponsored terror employed under former President Leon Febres Cordero, a time in which 68% of all human rights abuses ever registered in Ecuador occurred. Sharing his story in the documentary is Marco Troya who, as part of the military command of Alfaro Vive Carajo, is known for freeing the leader of the movement, Arturo Jarrin, by digging a tunnel into the Garcia Moreno jail to permit his escape.

That human rights abuses statistic is staggering. Troya told teleSUR that his participation was driven by a desire to remind everyone in Ecuador that the foundation of a country is a "permanent construction, of responsibility, of commitment." Powerful words.

Samaniego studied screenwriting at the Autonomous University of Madrid and has made several previous film and TV documentaries. He has also taught screenwriting and directing, and written a book of stories titled Taxidermy. Alfaro Vive Carajo will be released theatrically in Ecuador following the Edoc screenings.

[Edoc Festival]