Episode 17: Nothing but the Sun with Arami Ullón
In this episode, we feature a conversation with the esteemed Director Arami Ullón about her latest film Apenas El Sol (Nothing but the Sun) which was selected as the opening film at IDFA this year.
NOTHING BUT THE SUN is set in the Paraguayan Chaco region, a semi arid region in Paraguay with very low population density that is being rapidly deforested. It is also the home of the Ayoreo, an indigenous people that have been colonized by missionaries.
The film’s central protagonist is Mateo Sobode Chiqueno, who traverses the Chaco recording the voices of other Ayoreo who, like him, were born in the vast forest, free and nomadic, without any contact with white civilization, until religious missionaries forced them to abandon their ancestral territory, their means of subsistence, their beliefs, and their home. Through Mateo, we are invited to listen to the stories, songs, and testimonies of the Ayoreo people as he attempts to preserve fragments of a disappearing culture.
The entire film is an act of care, in which Ullón offers a dignified and honest representation of the Ayoreo people, not only as victims of the harsh and brutal colonial practices, but as complete men and women, owners of words and acts and ideas of their own, and of unique knowledge that we can all learn from.
Mariana Cadenas moderates the conversation. Mariana is a Venezuelan journalist turned documentary filmmaker and a programer of Peliculatina, a Latin American Film Festival in Brussels, where she is now based.
Please consider subscribing to Docs in Orbit on Spotify or Apple Podcast.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR / ARAMI ULLÓN
Arami Ullón was born in Asunción, in 1978. She lives and works in Switzerland and Paraguay, sharing her time between both places. Her work is strongly focused on Paraguayan reality.
Her first feature documentary, EL TIEMPO NUBLADO (Switzerland – Paraguay, 2014), was selected in more than 70 international festivals, including Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland), Karlovy Vary Film Festival (Czech Republic), and the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine de la Habana (Cuba). It had its International Premiere at Visions du Réel (Switzerland) where it won the Regards Neufs Award for Best First Film. The film was also the first Paraguayan entry to the Oscars (2016).
APENAS EL SOL is her second feature documentary, and will be celebrating it’s World Premiere at IDFA (Netherlands) where it was selected to be the opening film of the festival.
She produces, writes and directs, between Basel and Paraguay.