THE SHORT FILMS OF PAZ ENCINA
2000-2014. Paraguay/Argentina.
Total runtime: 60 mins.

MONDAY, AUGUST 5 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 11 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 – 5 PM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28 – 7:30 PM

SUPE QUE ESTABAS TRISTE
(I KNEW YOU WERE SAD)
dir. Paz Encina, 2000
5 mins. Argentina.

A family photo, the sound of the oncoming storm, the cat wandering the kitchen, a man alone in this space. Paz Encina’s early melancholic short is a conversation not shown on screen. Has it already occured or does it take place after this brief moment in time? Using only subtitles and visual language, SUPE QUE ESTABAS TRISTE creates an array if emotions without ever having to “show” anything.

HAMACA PARAGUAYO
(PARAGUAYAN HAMMOCK)
2000. 8 mins. Paraguay/Argentina.
In Guarani with English subtitles.

Made while she was attending the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires, Encina’s early short, which was expanded into a feature length film years later, contains the same components and mood as the feature. HAMACA PARAGUAYA establishes the traits Encina would be known for later in her career. A couple awaits on any news regarding their son, who is off at war, they spend their time conversing about the rain or how the dog won’t shut up. Shot on video, the film moves in waves, similar to a dream or a faded memory, Becoming a sensory experience.

FAMILIAR
(FAMILY)
2014. 9 mins. Paraguay.
In Guarani and Spanish with English subtitles.

ARRIBO
(ARRIVAL)
2014. 10 mins. Paraguay.
In Spanish with English subtitles.

Constructed by documents, audio, and images uncovered in the Archives of Terror, ARRIBO and FAMILIAR were originally intended to be shown in a gallery space. These two shorts remind us of the need to recognize the actions of the Stroessner dictatorship as human rights violations, while also asking the viewer to remember those interrogated, beyond that context. ARRIBO is a collection of surveillance images accompanied by an interrogation in Guarani while FAMILIAR combines these same components with unrelated home movies. Both films transport us to a troubled time in Paraguayan history, excavating the past in hopes that those affected throughout the dictatorship aren’t forgotten.

TRISTEZAS DE LA LUCHA
(SORROWS OF THE STRUGGLE)
2016. 7 mins. Paraguay.
In Spanish and Guarani with English subtitles.

Continuing her research on the Archives of Terror to create moving pieces, TRISTEZAS DE LA LUCHA once again serves as a time capsule to a particular moment in the nation’s history, where one political party was dominant and those opposed to it feared for their lives. Combining the audio of a rally from the right-wing Colorado party, the only legal political party during the Stroessner dictatorship, and a short story by the anarchist Rafael Barrett, the film reminds us of the struggles both sides face when they’ve been robbed of their autonomy. As a lone figure walks along the rural Paraguayan woods, a political prisoner under house arrest has a phone call detailing the soldier that has been tasked with guarding him. Though this soldier could be seen as his oppressor, the prisoner instead feels compassion for him, wondering if he’s too cold and if he’s lonely outside. TRISTEZAS DE LA LUCHA reminds us of the humanity in the face of terror, which can sometimes come from unlikely sources.

VIENTO SUR
(A WIND FROM THE SOUTH)
2012. 23 mins. Paraguay.
In Spanish and Guarani with English subtitles.

Two brothers, both fisherman, are the subjects of this atmospheric short. Their lives are defined by the Paraguay River, and when their lives depend on crossing the river to escape harm from Stroessner’s troops, they begin to question whether to run or stay. One of the brothers is determined to cross as soon as possible to avoid being caught in the crossfire, while the other is still weary of migrating, fearing that they’ll get caught in the August rainfall during their travel. With seemingly unrelated images and the attention to sound that Encina is known for, VIENTO SUR reflects on forced migration and how survival to some can form through various different solutions.