Friday 27 January 2012

Joining the Defensoras

Tonight we sat in a room full of women human rights defenders who lend their voices to the resistance. Our role in this movement is to film and photograph the faces and voices of defensoras and document their stories. We take this responsiblity seriously and feel honoured to bear witness to their truths.

It was inspiring to meet award winning filmmaker Pamela Yates and watch an exclusive screening of her documentary "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator". It tells the amazing story of how her film footage from "When the Mountains Tremble" has helped to provide evidence against a former military leader. We were struck by the courage of the families in the film who have struggled for justice for over 25 years. One young woman talked about searching for her 'disappeared' father for years but never finding any information on him, until one day thousands of police documents are found buried in an old police building. It is then she begins to find the answers to what happened to her father. This is what justice looks like, please check out this spectacular film...the trailer is below.
On the road tomorrow to meet more activists, stay tuned...
Best, Rachel and Adele
"Granito: How To Nail A Dictator" theatrical trailer from Skylight Pictures on Vimeo.