Amazine 2024 International Short Film Competition
3rd Edition: Resilient Amazons

The jury integrated by the Mexican producer Georgina Eréndira Calvillo Pérez, the Peruvian Amazonian producer Marllori Quio and the Venezuelan filmmaker Anabel Rodríguez Ríos, who acts as president of this jury, we are honored to award the Amazine 2024 prize in its 3rd Edition, as well as two special mentions, to a selection of outstanding short films from across Latin America that demonstrate exceptional creativity and sensitivity towards the Amazon.
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We were guided by the artistic quality and the forcefulness of the narratives, to arrive at this selection of three short films.
Thus, we have unanimously decided to give the Amazine 2024 award to the Peruvian film "The Engine and the melody ” directed by Juan Antonio Limo and Manuel-Antonio Monteagudo.
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Words of the jury about “The engine and the melody”, by Juan Antonio Limo and Manuel-Antonio Monteagudo.
The Engine and the Melody is an adaptation of the fable of the cicada and the ant told in a universe that immerses us in the devastating reality of forest fires in many regions of the great Amazon. But also, it teaches us how life can persist and prevail, even in something as subtle as the blowing of a melody from an ancestral flute. There, in that melody, is the seed of Amazonian resilience, which evidences the wisdom and spirituality of its cultures. Let's hope that this music of El Motor and the melody, sensitize the audience to listen to the subtle voices and songs of the largest jungle on our planet.
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SPECIAL MENTIONS​
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The jury has decided to give a Special Mention as “Intangible Heritage” for its “Anthropological value, highlighting Indigenous Communities,” to "Airatsu ”, Bolivian-Peruvian film, by Gabriela Olivera Hidalgo and Milagros Beatriz Lazaro.
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Airatsu is an Ashaninka word that means Threads, and in the voices of Dionicia and Amanda Samaniego from the San Miguel community, Mariankiari Center, in Peru, they tell us about their first experiences as weavers at the time of their first menstruation.
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Their directors Gabriela and Milagros show an artistic vocation through a camera set-up that suggests an original, intimate and sensorial point of view.
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We are especially moved by the voices of these elderly women, who in their own language, express the power of patience, the knowledge of spinning and weaving the events and time. The image of these women spinners recalls the most ancient feminine archetypes, founders of great cultures.
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The short film, made with poetry and freshness, leaves open the question that we can hardly answer at this moment: what will happen to these traditions, there is hope for the future.
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Airatsu, is a short documentary that is part of the Amazonian Film School, which arises in Pucallpa, Peru, under the initiative of Fernando Valdivia Gomez. On behalf of the Amazine 2024 jury, we would like to express our recognition.
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The jury has decided to give a Special Mention as "Example of Sustainable Cities and Communities ‘ to ’Yaku Warmikuna. Fighting for rivers and life”, an Ecuadorian film, directed by Vinicio Condor, from the original idea of the Colectivo de Geografía Crítica del Ecuador.
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The story of Yaky Warmikuna tells the struggle of the Kitchwa People in Ecuador, especially the communities of Tzawata and Serena, who have organized in defense of their territories and rivers.
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“Without clean water we are doomed”, is the principle that fuels the determination of these peoples to stop the invasion of companies such as the mining company ‘Terra Earth Resource’.
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The leaders and activists in this struggle show an intimate relationship with their rivers. They are part of their daily lives, the people of these communities respect them, take care of them, protect them. So should we all do for our rivers, lakes and seas.
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We hope that this recognition will bring Yaky Warmikuna to many Amazonian peoples, guardians of nature, who will feel motivated, identified and reciprocated in this story.
On date, October 09, 2024
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Members of the Amazine 2024 Jury:
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ANABEL RODRÍGUEZ RÍOS
President of the Jury
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MARLLORY QUIO VALDIVIA
Jury
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GEORGINA CALVILLO PÉREZ
Jury
WATUNNA
The creation myths of the Yekuana Indians of the Orinoco region of Venezuela provide a transparent look at the poetic process by which human beings construct meaning from their experience. Narrated by Stan Brakhage. Music and sound by Bruce Odland.