Quipu
Esperanza and Teodula were sterilised without consent more than 18 years ago and are still searching for justice in rural Peru. They want the shocking testimonies of victims to be brought to light and ensure those responsible are punished.
Together with other affected women, activists and artists, Esperanza and Teodula are using technology that’s designed to reach those living in isolated communities. They have established the Quipu Project, a specially developed phone line connected to the internet allows women to share their stories in their own words, listen to others’ experiences, and be heard around the country and the world.
The Quipu team travel across Peru to the regions that were most affected by the sterilisation campaign – impoverished villages in the Andes and Amazon. As they meet more people and collect their stories on the phone line, the real scale of the campaign starts to be revealed.
This documentary film follows the intimate journeys of these two peasant women fighting for recognition and women’s rights in a male-dominated society, while inviting others to join them in the hope that their voices will no longer be silenced. Featuring amazing landscapes and mass women’s protests around Peru’s 2016 election campaign, Quipu tells the story of some unlikely, inspiring heroes.
Response
Last month, in tandem with our documentary Radical Brownies, we asked you to tell us about the local groups and clubs that help inspire confidence for women. Here’s what some of you said.
Life’s going to knock our girls down over and over. We want them to get back up every time. | Rosemary King, head coach, Rose City Hockey Club
Coming up: The Internet Warriors
Who are the people that get so angry online? Why do so many of them choose to harass or threaten people and stretch the freedom of speech to its limits? Meet the internet warriors – in their own caves. Kyrre Lien meets a group of strongly opinionated individuals all across the world, who spend their time debating online the subjects about which they care so strongly. They are warriors for their own causes, often feeling left behind in society and that they are the ones who have the right answer. The documentary features interviewees reading two comments that they have written and giving their thoughts on why they wrote them. We often meet the characters in their own homes, at their computers – the place where they spend hours and hours every day writing comments. Out Friday 10 March.
Guardian Live documentary screenings
The New Man – Sunday 12 February, 3.45pm, Home, Manchester
Turning the camera on themselves, directors Josh Appignanesi and Devorah Baum film the process of becoming parents at a time when late reproduction is the norm and masculinity in crisis. Having been through multiple rounds of IVF, the couple finally get pregnant, but when complications hit, they’re pushed to their limits. The New Man is a film for anyone who has children, is thinking of having them, or still feels like a child themselves.
Membership
If you like what we do with documentaries at the Guardian, then please consider becoming a member. Our ability to investigate and expose stories such as these is made possible by our supporters. Join today to support our journalism.
