Film Festival celebrates indigenous languages in Bangkok

The “Indigenous Languages Film Festival” was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 27 September with great success at the “Cinema Oasis”.

This event, framed in the “Year of Indigenous Languages Film Fest 2019”, was organized by the Embassies of Peru, Colombia, and Mexico with the support of the Regional Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based in Bangkok.

The Embassy of Peru presented the Quechua language film "The Eyes of the Journey" by the Peruvian director Rodrigo Otero Heraud.

The heads of diplomatic mission of the three countries and a high representative of UNESCO participated in the opening ceremony. The Ambassador of Peru highlighted the extensive program of activities that have been developed in Peru in the framework of the “Year of Indigenous Languages”, including a Latin American Seminar being held in the city of Cusco on the same date as the festival in Bangkok, in order to raise awareness about the threats that indigenous languages face, and the need to preserve, revitalize, and promote them throughout the world. He also highlighted the growing number of films in indigenous languages that have been produced in Peru, including Wiñaypacha (Aymara) and Retablo (Quechua).

Among the attendees were members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in Thailand, specialists in the field who have been attending the “Inclusion, Mobility and Multilingual Education Inclusion, Mobility and Multilingual Education Conference”, organized in Bangkok (September 24-27) by the United Nations Fund for the Children (UNICEF), UNESCO and the British Council. Thai film enthusiasts, young students and language teachers from different universities and institutions also attended.