A Conversation with Argentinian Filmmakers
According to the 2012 Census, 16,329 people in Bolivia self-identified as Afro-Bolivian. It is estimated that the Afro-Bolivian population exceeds 25,000 people. Peter and Taio chat with ADC about their journey to Bolivia to document the phenomenal stories of resilience and hope in an Afro-Bolivian community.
ADC: What inspired you to go into this work?
Peter: I have always had an interest in different cultures. I am a media professional, I like to take a critical look at how the media stigmatizes different communities. The ultimate dream for this project is to build an alternative media outlet that can show all of the history of communities that are unknown -- that’s my big dream, long term vision. We began with African descendants because they have a really tough history and are the most unknown in all the communities of the world.
Taio: We now have a bigger team. We worked with editors on this team. In the new project, we worked in Sierra Leone to do a story on the Civil War, the story of reconciliation and society after the civil war. We have much more technical resources for this new project, so it will be better, but the stories are still so powerful.
ADC: Can you tell us a little bit about the history and development of AfroBolivian Communities like Tocana?
Taio: It is the largest Afro-Bolivian community in Bolivia. No one is certain of the exact year and the exact countries from which their ancestors came, but the Spanish took the Africans from different boats.
ADC: What inspired you to focus on this particular community?
Taio: I read an article in the newspapers about Africans being taken to Bolivia as slaves. There was a particular story about a man who was a King in Mozambique, and was taken to be a slave in the mines of Potosi, Bolivia which is close to Tocana. Most of the slaves were taken to be miners in Potosi. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more.
There were lots of enslaved Africans in my native Argentina, but we don’t know too much about them. In Argentina, we don’t study though it’s part of the history. Important personalities are involved in Argentenian independence. In Bolivia and Brazil, you can find this history easily. In Argentina, though there is lots of immigration, its (the reason we don’t study this) is part racism, its a little bit of the problem. They gave us lots of things now that are part of our culture. The tango, the candombe, the samba, it all originated in African tradition.
When I traveled, I wasn’t sure what we were going to find but I felt I had to go. When we began this project, we only traveled to meet the people and their community. The idea was to have an interview and a small project. When we arrived there we found that there were so many stories.
ADC: How long did it take you to create the final work?
Taio: The project took us one year. We went in 2016 and we promised all of the people interviewed that we would return. In December of 2017, we went back, we saw the commentary, and they allowed us to make the movie better. We returned to make the story better. The moment where we went back to show them the documentary was an amazing and a nice moment, because many people have done projects, but according to the people most people who make the project never return to show them. When we went back to show them what they did, they were really happy. We tried to respect their culture.
ADC: Who did what?
Peter: I focused more on building the historical components, Taio focused on relationships but we both did everything.
ADC: Were there any major shocks or surprises as you began your interviews?
Taio: What surprised us most when one of the men told us that he was a slave. We felt something strange inside us. We didn’t know before the interview that he was a slave. He was a slave until 15. His parents were enslaved as well.
ADC: According to Zoala, they couldn’t even speak without being whipped for it. I can imagine that there was a deep need for spirituality. They mentioned caring for mother earth, or pachamama. Did you see evidence of African spiritual practices in the stories of the Invisibles? Would you consider La Saya to be part of this spiritual tradition since the Bolivians said “It was about pain, sadness, about their worries.”
Peter: They have a deep bond with Mother Earth, but that is part of African spiritual practice. And also it is part of Bolivian culture. Most Bolivians, respect Mother Earth, who gives them food and life. That is why they take care of the land and do not exploit it. Without a doubt, the dance of La Saya is a (manifestation) of spiritual feelings. Respect for Pachamama is a mix of African and Bolivian culture, even the spiritual roots of Bolivia, Bolivia has a reputation of being very spiritual and connected to Pachamama. They have a respect for and identify with the land, the Mother Earth.
ADC: You discuss an awakening that Afro-Bolivians are experiencing. There appears to be a similar awakening in Brazil and in other Diasporic communities. What do you think is contributing to people of African Descent in Central and South America, among other places, finally acknowledging and proudly claiming their African roots? Why is this moment in history prompting such as response?
Peter: Global connectivity is the main tool. It allows access to information that replicates and makes stories visible. Globalization commits many atrocities but it is a good tool to build a better and a fair world.
ADC: What are the three most important jewels of knowledge you want viewers to take with them after finishing the film?
Taio:
Make the Afro-Bolivian story known. In South America, we didn’t know a lot about the African Diaspora and we (Argentina and Bolivia) didn’t know that we had enslaved Africans until 7 years ago. In South America, we think slavery ended several years ago. There’s history to show that there were slaves 70 years ago.
Motivate and encourage the civil society where we live with messages of hope and joy despite their suffering and to look forward towards the future.
To be aware of the consequences power can bring about on a peaceful people.
ADC: What’s at stake if we allow the stories of the African Diaspora to disappear?
Peter: Students need to know all of the history, and not just white controlled world history. The African population is the main population all around the world, and they’ve suffered a lot. In Argentina, they’ve never teach us about African History. They never teach us the María Remedios del Valle, for example, a Black girl that fought for the independence of our country, and they never told us. In Argentina, they killed a lot of Africans. They were obligated to fight for the country and they died in war. These other countries want to look like Europe and (consequentially) they don’t recognize the phenomenal African history they have. If we allow these stories to disappear we are going to build a blind society. We are going to allow one of the most violent and tough histories to go unnoticed. We are going to build up an unfair world, a really violent world. This type of information and these types of lessons are really valuable for the United States as a country and the world to build a fair society.
Taio: The history in the books is not always the true history. If the story of the African Diaspora is not known, we will be turning a blind eye to one of the worst stories. A missile in humanity. We would be endorsing the war. We would be allowing (unspeakable events), so we cannot have a blind eye on this kind of history because it is a terrible story, and also most of the people have to understand the history of where we’re from and the importance of the African Diaspora in most of the countries right now.
Why do you think it’s so important for people to hear the stories of this community? What are the implications for the African Diaspora? For the world as a whole?
Taio: It’s important for people to know the history because It can help the African-South Americans to be known in the United States. I think it’s important to know that the African Diaspora affected every corner of the world. It’s important for people to realize that this is part of our history and this story is important for the solidarity, justice and values of society. This story has to be known.