I am a passionate journalist, eager for new experiences, and obsessed with my broken-down Sony handy cam. I want to succeed as a documentary filmmaker and I’m determined to do so.
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This story was personal. My grandfather was from Otavalo, but we were raised in the city. I realized that this place, which I believed to know so well through past visits and stories growing up, was in reality absolutely foreign to me. When I decided to take this opportunity to explore it further, I was lucky to find a friend who grew up there and was willing to invite me in. I asked if I could follow their family’s trade and their way of life. As humble as they are they welcomed me with open arms; something that surprised me lies in the contradiction of traditional and practical. I admire them for living so close to the ground, learning every day from it, and being absolutely self-reliant. However their trade of weaving bracelets, entails so much work, yet awards them so poorly that I began to wonder how if they even question the productivity of it all, and if they do, to decide on change. A Quechua’s identity is based on tradition, as my friend Carmelina elegantly explains standing next to her family in the film.
