ARICA NATIVA

Arica Nativa was born far from the cities, sharing beautiful films in Andean communities, in the valleys, foothills and altiplano of Arica and Parinacota, while we were restoring heritage, with mud, stones and paja brava*. After 15 years of good walking and many friendships, Arica Nativa is still a very rare festival, a modest native film festival that seeks something as powerful and necessary as making new generations fall in love with preserving the natural and cultural treasures of the planet, which are guarded by communities far from the cities.
They ask us what it means to be Nativ@. And we respond by repeating what was transmitted to us by wise people we have met along the way: to be in the world with humility and joy, connected to Mother Earth and our ancestors, looking to the future with our eyes on the origin, always rebellious and enthusiastic to achieve a more communitarian, just and sustainable world. The icon of the festival is a geoglyph left by the old Andean cultures in the valley of Lluta, near Arica, which marks the path for the ancient caravans that connected the altiplano and the coast, the "troperas" and "troperos" that went around the world sharing their efforts, their culture and their friendship.
In 2020 we are 15 years old, when we are living an emergency that forces us to rethink many things as a species in order to move forward. We invite with special enthusiasm the audiovisual artisans, the filmmakers and activists of the planet, to create together this festival of native films, dedicated with love to the rural and indigenous communities of the world, which today, more than ever and with urgency, we must listen carefully... That it is in good time, Jallalla!

* Arica Nativa is one of the permanent projects of the Altiplano Foundation, a non-profit organization that accompanies Andean and rural communities in the need to preserve their heritage at risk.