Killa (Before the Moon Rises) – Edinburgh

CinemaAttic presents a special screening of Killa (dir. Alberto Muenala), the first feature-length film written, directed, and produced by Kichwa filmmakers in Kichwa language. The screening will include an introduction and Q&A with Dr Peter Baker, Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling, drawing from his research on the history of Kichwa cinema in Ecuador. His current project, “Against the Grain”, highlights the voices and productions of Alberto Muenala and other Kichwa filmmakers to deepen our understanding of Indigenous film history from Abya Yala/Latin America.

Synopsis:
A photograph and a news story at an inopportune moment form the beginning of a story about love, racism, and persecution centred on the relationship between a journalist (Alicia) and a Kichwa photographer (Sayri). As an Indigenous leader takes up the defence of a community against a mining company, his determination will lead to a personal confrontation with a corrupt high-ranking government official, which will have repercussions on the lives of Alicia and Sayri. The positions taken by the government official and the Indigenous leader show two different conceptions of how to approach life. The official is concerned with development, while the leader fights to defend nature. The couple and the community will pay the price for the outcome of this confrontation.

The screening will be accompanied by the 2-minute short film Warmikuna Kaypimikanchik, which focuses on the involvement of Kichwa women in recent protests in Ecuador, and the trailer for Alberto Muenala’s forthcoming film Allpamamapak Shunku (Heart of the Earth), which centres on the peaceful occupation of the Santo Domingo Church in Quito which marked the beginning of a nationwide Indigenous uprising in 1990 in Ecuador.

📅 Wednesday 4th December – 7.30pm – 9.30pm
📍 Summerhall, Edinburgh

Accessibility

This screening is wheelchair accessible