Afroindigenous Film Fest Focuses on Youth Education in Tenerife

The CajaCanarias Foundation is backing the Miradas Afroindígenas film festival, an international event showcasing real-life stories. It's taking place in Puerto de la Cruz from November 22nd to 29th.

As part of the festival, there's an educational program that includes:

• EducaDoc: This section introduces schoolchildren and students to global social issues through creative documentaries, followed by discussions.
• Audiovisual Literacy Workshop: Students studying Image and Sound at a vocational training center are running this workshop.

The program is designed for schools in Puerto de la Cruz and across Tenerife. It aims to expose students to different types of films and give them the chance to meet and chat with the filmmakers and people featured in the documentaries. Screenings and the workshop will be held at Sala Timanfaya.

For this year, the festival team has chosen two films with strong social messages that offer diverse perspectives, encouraging curiosity and conversation.

Younger students (ages 10-13) can watch "With Grace" (2024), co-directed by Julia Dahr and Dina Mwende. It will be shown on Monday, November 24th, and Tuesday, November 25th, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM, followed by a discussion.

"With Grace" tells the story of a bright 13-year-old girl in Kenya who brings joy to everyone around her. The documentary looks back at her childhood with her loving family on their farm – a time of happiness, but also a time when disaster almost tore them apart.

Older students will have the opportunity to see "Seeds of Kivu" (2024), by Néstor López. López will be there to talk with the audience after the screenings on Wednesday, November 26th, and Thursday, November 27th, from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM.

"Seeds of Kivu" focuses on a group of women from Kivu, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world's most dangerous places. The film explores the challenges these women face as they undergo therapy to reintegrate into society after being victims of gang rape by local guerrillas who control the area's mineral resources. At Panzi Hospital, they grapple with the difficult decision of whether to keep the children born from these rapes.

In collaboration with CIFP César Manrique, a vocational training center from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a temporary television studio will be set up at Sala Timanfaya in Puerto de la Cruz. Students will learn how a TV studio works, with hands-on experience of the roles of cameramen, directors, and stage managers.

Trainee students from CIFP César Manrique will take on all the necessary roles to produce a television program and will interact with the participants, who will then participate in an improvised program with interviews and other activities typical of a television space.

Miradas Afroindígenas supports filmmaking, especially socially conscious documentaries. The festival is committed to showing complex issues and promoting inclusive films that encourage critical thinking. In today's world, it aims to be a place where people can learn through real-life stories. Miradas Afroindígenas also helps develop film projects, encouraging collaboration and the sharing of knowledge between people from different parts of the world.