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RAI FILM Festival takes place on 27-30 March 2025. Learn more.

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2019

Wási

Directed by Amado Villafaña Chaparro, Sebastián Gómez Ruíz

2017 – 16'

Synopsis

As the sun rises on a village in northern Colombia, we glimpse its inhabitants as they begin their day. As the scene emerges from obscurity, a voiceover reflects on the nature of sight. It is the voice of Arhuaco filmmaker Amado Vilafaña Chaparro, the co-director of Wási. He shares his thoughts on anthropologists like Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff and Robert Gardner, and the (mis)representations they produce. Ultimately he, and this film, affirm the power indigenous people can seize by taking up the camera themselves – becoming authors of their image and, so, authors of knowledge.

This film is also available as part of the RAI Documentary Shorts Collection on RAI PLAYER: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/raishortscollection

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RAI FILM Festival 2025

The next RAI FILM Festival will take place in person from 27-30 March 2025 at the Watershed Cinema and the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol (UK) and online throughout the month of April 2025.