Film and Democracy in Paraguay

178 Pages·2016·4.61 MB·English

by  Eva Karene Romero (auth.)

FILM AND
DEMOCRACY IN
PARAGUAY
Eva Karene Romero
Film and Democracy in Paraguay
Eva Karene Romero
Film and Democracy
in Paraguay
Eva Karene Romero
Tucson, Arizona, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-44813-8 ISBN 978-3-319-44814-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44814-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959049
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A
cknowledgments
I remember a decade ago, when Film and Democracy in Paraguay was
just a twinkle in my eye. It takes a village to raise a book. Frankly, there
is no end to the gestation metaphors I could employ here, but let’s just
say it all started with Andy Valdovinos. He was working on a few budding
film projects back in 2006 when I asked him the question: “Do you think
there are enough Paraguayan films now that I could write a dissertation
about them?” His encouragement came with a list of names of people
working on film projects. The conversations I had with Patricia Aguayo,
Hugo Cataldo, Fredi Casco, Manuel Cuenca, Renate Costa, Paz Encina,
Ramiro Gómez, Pablo Lamar, Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schémbori,
Marcelo Martinessi, Paulo Meileke, Augusto Netto Sisa, Aníbal Ríos,
Claudia Rojas, and Mariana Vázquez Tandé helped me understand that
something big was happening. I thank all of these people for so freely shar-
ing their dreams, trials, and tribulations with me.
I am greatly indebted to the following people, whose support, kind-
ness, help, encouragement and labor have gone into this project in one
way or another: to the Valdovinos family, thank you for welcoming me
into your homes and hearts every time I return to Paraguay. Lidia, Isabel,
and Elba, thank you for all the domestic labor that went into taking care
of me when I didn’t have the time to take care of myself. Sonia, Rosanna,
and Norita, thank you for being my primas. Hugo Biedermann, Vincent
Carlisle, Mario Franco, Belén Herrero, y Belén Perez, nuestro amor va
más allá del tiempo-espacio.
I am deeply indebted to many, many people who were part of my intel-
lectual journey at The University of Arizona. I would especially like to thank
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Abraham Acosta, Katia Bezerra, Laura Briggs, Daniel Calleros, Malcolm
Compitello, Laura Gutiérrez, Lucy Blaney-Liable, Andy Guzmán, Juliana
Luna Freire, Andrew Rajca, Olimpia Rosenthal, Jamie Wilson, and Sasha
Woolson. I would also like to thank all the members of the Pop-up
Dissertation Support Group: Rosario Hall, Roberto Mendoza, Elizabeth
Phillips, Maisa Taha, and Wasilia Yapur; it was so very replenishing to share
greasy food, failures, and victories with you when we were just starting to
get the hang of this writing thing. And thank you, Guillermo Martínez-
Sotelo, for assisting with my understanding of soccer rules.
Besides the aforementioned, if this book were a sculpture, you would
also see the fingerprints of the following individuals who passed it around,
leaving their mark on different parts they helped to form with their feed-
back in important ways: Benjamin Fraser, Brian Gollnick, Joanna Page,
Amy Parziale, Aly Patsavas, Carolina Rocha, Ignacio Sanchez Prado, and
Georgia Seminet, I thank you.
I extend my gratitude also to those who attended conferences, institutes
and talks that helped shape my work, particularly Rafael Climent-Espino,
Marlowe Daly-Galeano, Laura Gronewold, Araceli Masterson, and every-
one who attended the Tepoztlán Institute for the Transnational History of
the Americas 2011. I am also indebted to my colleagues at Universidad de
Buenos Aires, who encouraged me to continue the work by incorporating
my dissertation into their curriculum. The conversations I had at UBA’s
Tercer Congreso Internacional Artes en Cruce with Héctor Kohen, Ana
López, Ana Laura Lusnich, Ricardo Manetti, Nicolás Ezequiel Mazzeo,
María Luisa Ortega Gálvez, and Laura Podalsky set a fire under me.
I am deeply indebted to Desiree Adaway, who so generously and intui-
tively involved me in the Mastermind 2015 Cohort, introducing me to
a group of fighting women who saw me through some of the painful
work of writing and grieving and ending and exiting. Paige Baker, Kirsten
Bunch, Heather Conyers, Heather Laine Talley, Melinda Miles, Melissa
Nussbaum, and Tina Mutungu, thank you for being awesome.
To the baristas at Caffe Luce who caffeinated me at six a.m. on dark
winter mornings, bleary-eyed and unable to even swipe a credit card cor-
rectly: John and Brandi, thank you for making me feel at home as your
writer-in-residence.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to Michelle Livingston, who listened to
the story of this book (and my life) as we shared twelve hours in her truck
on the way to and from Las Vegas. Her love of film kindled my interest,
and she was the one who picked me up when I was shot through with
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
rejection. Michelle also whipped my book proposal into shape, seeing
what I was too close to see, and creating a sparkling new re-write using
her brilliant marketing skills. I owe the publication of this book to her.
I also want to thank Michelle for insisting I make time to celebrate the
victories as they happened, and I want to thank some of the dear friends
who made time to celebrate with me: Xandi Aranda, Georgia Armstrong,
Araliya Glessinger, Gabriel Higuera, Sara and Brandon Kobilka, November
and Dale Prentiss, Rupa Shenoy. Having friends to celebrate the victories
with is an important thing.
Thank you to Shaun Vigil, my editor at Palgrave, for being so enthusi-
astic about my book proposal from the start. Shaun’s enthusiasm gave me
the energy to make that final push to see the book to completion. It was
a pleasure to work with Shaun throughout the publication process, and
because of his kindness and attention I will always look back at my first
experience with Palgrave fondly.
The final polishing of this manuscript depended heavily on Isis Sadek,
friend, colleague, and professional wordsmith. Friend and design wizard,
Kieran Delaney developed inspiration for the front cover.
Endless thanks to Andrew Haberbosch for so much support that I
could not begin to describe it here, and to Sonora Romero Haberbosch
for being my sunshine.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Hamaca paraguaya (2006): The Campesino and
Circular Time 27
3 Frankfurt (2008): Documentary, Fútbol and
the Campesino Icon in Paraguay 55
4 Rape of the Nation: Karai norte (2009) and
Noche adentro (2010) 79
5 Queering Paraguayan Film: 108/Cuchillo de palo
(2010) and Semana capital (2010) 103
6 The Child as Paraguay’s Future: “Calle Última (2010),
Mita´í (2011), and 7 cajas (2012)” 129
B ibliography 157
I ndex 165
xi
l f
ist of igures
Fig. 2.1 Photograph by Cristian Núñez 29
Fig. 2.2 Photograph by Cristian Núñez 31
Fig. 2.3 Photograph by Cristian Núñez 32
Fig. 2.4 Photograph by Cristian Núñez 36
Fig. 2.5 Photograph by Cristian Núñez 37
Fig. 4.1 The M.C. in Noche adentro 82
Fig. 4.2 The groom drags the bride’s body down a staircase
in Noche adentro 82
Fig. 4.3 The groom drags the bride’s body interminably
in Noche adentro 83
Fig. 4.4 The elderly woman’s gray hair in a bun in Karai norte 94
Fig. 4.5 The elderly woman’s home in Karai norte 95
Fig. 4.6 The elderly woman looking out from her doorway
in Karai norte 96
Fig. 5.1 Photograph by Gabriela Zuccolillo 108
Fig. 5.2 Photograph by Gabriela Zuccolillo 118
Fig. 6.1 Miriam visits José in Calle Última 137
Fig. 6.2 Miriam visits José in Calle Última 138
Fig. 6.3 José and friends breakdance for change at a
stoplight in Calle Última 139
Fig. 6.4 The iconic overpass in Calle Última 139
Fig. 6.5 Miriam contemplates the future after talking to her friend;
an underage mother, in Calle Última 141
xiii