Hamaca Paraguaya, Paz Encina, Paraguay, 2006, 72’
Hamaca Paraguaya is a 2006 dramatic film from Paraguay that is written and directed by Paz Encina. The story, told cinematographically with a few fixed shots and off-screen dialogues, unfolds over the course of a single day, 14 June, 1935. The location: an isolated jungle paradise on Paraguayan land. The lead characters: Cándida and Ramón, an old, rural married couple. Their son, Maximiliano Ramón Caballero, left to fight in the Chaco War, and they both await his return: the father waits with optimism, trusting that he will once again see his son alive; the mother, however, is seized by the most terrible thoughts.
The last 35 mm film shot in Paraguay to open in theatres dates back to the 1970s: a film about the Paraguayan War that was given the unanimous support of the dictatorial regime of President Alfredo Stroessner, who was then at the height of his power. In fact, the introduction to this film, entitled "Mont Corá", expresses its profound gratitude to the "great leader" and his followers (whose children participated in the film) for supporting culture in the country. Later, in the 1990s, some foreign directors came to Paraguay to work on co-productions, attracted by cheap labour thanks to the exchange rate of the Guarani, our national currency. Paraguayan sets and actors were used for their films, but the truth is that they did not reflect the reality of the country.
This is, therefore, the birth of a new cinema. This is also a film for those who are not afraid to face "another type" of film experience, one that goes beyond conventional narrative and standardized durations, one that bets on silences, small gestures, the emptiness and the waiting.
"I am aware that my film is not the easiest, but from its conception, I knew that it corresponded perfectly with my way of observing, of seeing my people and those close to me, and that the temporal perception that I propose is, in my opinion, what we are living. I am convinced that Hamaca Paraguaya will change my life, and could become an important point of reference, not just for me as a person, but for many others".
It won the FIPRESCI Award in Un Certain Regard Award from the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Hamaca Paraguaya is a 2006 dramatic film from Paraguay that is written and directed by Paz Encina. It won the FIPRESCI Award in Un Certain Regard Award from the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.