Lafken ñi Az: The Ocean Reveals its Knowledge

Synopsis

Lafken ñi Az: The Ocean Reveals its Knowledge was produced by the Mapuche School of Filmmaking and Communication of the Aylla Rewe Budi, a Mapuche-led collective that trains young people to tell stories through film. At the heart of the film is Az, an ancestral system of rules, knowledge, and values that structures Mapuche relations with one another and with the ocean. The foundational knowledge of Az is embodied and emplaced, carried in the stories of elders and materialized in the colors, sounds, and textures of the coastal landscape. However, these relations are put at risk by the Chilean state, as it claims ownership over ocean and coastal areas and denies Mapuche sovereignty. In response, the young filmmakers of Aylla Rewe Budi use film to assert their presence and connection with the land—past, present, and future. By foregrounding Mapuche epistemologies, Lafken ñi Az offers both a critique and a counternarrative to the many colonial knowledge frameworks that underpin ocean governance.

Director Bio

The Mapuche School of Filmmaking and Communication of the Aylla Rewe Budi aims to strengthen and share Mapuche forms of communication, and works to build a distinctly Mapuche way of making films. They have organized filmmaking workshops in the Aylla Rewe Budi traditional territory since 2011, training Mapuche youth to collectively create short films from within their territory, to share with their people and the world. Through these workshops, filmmaking has come to play a central role in defending Mapuche territories and in strengthening Mapuche culture and spirituality. The collective grew out of the collaborative energies and efforts of the lof (communities) of Malalhue Chanco, Llaguepulli, Kawemu, Rolonche, Millahueco, Mallay, Yenehue and Huente and in collaboration with Mapuche and Canadian organizations: Lafken Ñy Zugvn, Radio Werken Kvrvf, Wapikoni Mobile, a2delante-Strategic Video Initiative and Université de Montréal. Filmmaking workshops take place once a year, grounded in tukulpa kimvn – reflecting on Mapuche communication to build a unique way of making films that are deeply rooted in Mapuche knowledge. Other films include Feyentuafiyñ Bafkence Kimvn (The Value of Ancestral Knowledge) (2021), Kvpalme (The Origin) (2019), Challwan Kvzaw (The Art of Fishing) (2018), and Pewmayiñ (Dreaming) (2017).

Distribution

Escuela de Cine y Comunicación Mapuche del Aylla Rewe Budi
Full film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGI_KDOmOts 

 

For many years, the Chilean state has ignored our existence and has denied that we, the Mapuche, exist. Because of this, we have to speak out, we have to convey our vision of the world.