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Castellano

On august 29 2006 a major cultural event took place near Huaraz in the communtiy of Canrey Chico - Olleros.
Madeinusa, the multiple price winning film debut of Claudia Llosa (1976) was presented to a few hundred excited villagers that star in the movie. They were cleary very satisfied with the end result of the film they had helped being created in 2005. And so were the crew and press members that witnessed the event. As said director Claudia Llosa, " this was the most wonderful screening of all I have had so far."


Just a few months earlier the movie had it's premiere at the Sundance Festival where it immediatly received a price, followed by awards in Rotterdam, Malaga, Toulouse and elsewhere.

Protagonist Magaly Solier was also at the screening. Claudia asked her if she wanted to star when they met in the park of her home village near Ayacucho in central Peru. She had never acted before but is a complete natural in her role as a countrygirl who desires to go to big town Lima.


Moving to Lima is exactly what Magaly did after she finished the shooting of the movie. There she now studies singing and piano, an instrument previously alien to her. In between shootings for a canal 4 television reportage she is peacefully knitting, seemingly unimpressed by all the media attention.
Meanwhile, Claudia Llosa is watching how slowly the rustic plaza of Canrey Chico fills with the campesinos that helped her, and how the filmscreen is being installed in the portal of the church.


Just when it gets dark and the movie starts it looks like it also starts to rain. "Ay, la lluvia," laments a woman next to me. But the crowd sitting on the grass in front of the church is soon completely absorbed by Claudia's story.
There is occasional laughter when a fellow villager is recognized on the screen. And the apu gods are helping tonight as the rain stops and the sky breaks revealing the stars and a crescent moon. A warm applause follows at the end and people stand in line to congratulate Claudia with her success.


"I want to see the film every day", says a woman who protects her back against the cold with a colorful cloth. "You will have to wait to get the dvd", responds Claudia. "First the movie will be shown in cinemas in Lima."
People keep hanging around the church while the screen is being taken down to be part of this special evening as long as possible.
It seems likely that Madeinusa will become a national hit just as it was a success abroad.

huaraz.com story and photos by K.K.