A new doc, 'Wings of Dust,' tells the story of journalist Vidal Merma and his fight against the mining companies devastating the K’ana Nation in Peru.
runs through Espinar, a province in the southern highlands of Peru, where lead, arsenic, cadium, manganese, and mercury have beenin the blood of members of the Cusco region’s Indigenous K’ana Nation. Mountains once majestic against the blue horizon have been erased and swallowed by vast pits as the Peruvian government courts international mining companies scraping the ancestral lands for metal.
Ghiotto: One thing that is very good is that, yes, this can indeed have an impact. At the same time, this brought me to truly reflect about the word itself: Impact. Because I don’t know if you noticed in our industry, especially in the filming industry, usually the word impact is really abused. Fortunately, thanks to the team that we had, we were able to do many of these things during the campaign for the movie. We collaborated with this actor, Benjamin Bratt, and the reason why we collaborated with him is because his mom was an indigenous Quechua like Vidal, and she’s also gone through a very similar situation . … Thanks to , the movie also had a beautiful outreach, to the point that even Mark Ruffalo posted our trailer on social media.
Ghiotto: Exactly. Something in between. It was the relationship with his son, Erik. The relationship between the son and the father, that came out to be my main focus for the movie. I didn’t even realize that I was focusing on that until I was editing. His true motivation is his son. The fact that he wakes up in the morning and risks his life. You might think that he’s selfish.
Vidal, some of the most emotional parts in the film were the scenes with your son. One that stands out is when you and your family celebrate his birthday. You often bring your son with you throughout your activism work. Why is that so important for him to see you champion your community? Merma: At his school, he shares the experiences of the work we do. Last year, when I wasn’t well, he made a short film about this issue with his classmates. He’s involved his friends and classmates. He’s now in a collective of young people, who are promoting the defense of our territory and Mother Nature. He leads and is part of this group of young people, and I think that’s so important. It makes me so proud because from a young age, he’s working so hard and that’s so important for society.
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