WACC supported documentary facilitates truth and reconciliation

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By Gisèle Langendries, WACC

El Salvador, one of the countries in Latin America which has suffered one of the most violent internal conflicts in the region, is coming to terms with the horrific atrocities committed during the Salvadoran Civil War which raged from 1980 to 1992. During this war, some 180,000 people died - mostly peasants - thousands of whom were tortured and ‘disappeared’.

Colima, the 59-minute documentary which recounts the event of a massacre by the paramilitary which took place on 17 March 1980 in the village of Ingenio Colima has broken the silence and opened the path for the restoration of people’s dignity, and has contributed to facilitating a national process of truth and reconciliation.

Even though Colima focuses on the story of a mother whose daughter disappeared, the documentary also reveals locations of unmarked mass graves where some 300 people have been buried.

The documentary which received financial support from WACC and was produced by the audiovisual department of the Universidad Centroamericana was screened in cinemas throughout El Salvador. Broadcast on local television channels is scheduled later in the year. Plans are also afoot for the documentary to be shown at international festivals and on network and cable television worldwide.

The documentary has been successful in facilitating the beginning of a judicial process of exhumation of the victims, their identification and the return of the bodies to their families.

Colima is the first documentary of its genre ever produced in El Salvador. It was directed by Oscar Orellana co-director of the award winning documentary Monseñor Romero: Un ministerio de Dios, about the life and murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.

Click here to read an interview with Orellana who visited WACC office in Toronto in December 2008.

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La WACC promueve la comunicación como un derecho humano básico, esencial para la dignidad de las personas y para las comunidades.

The World Association for Christian Communication is a UK Registered Charity (number 296073) and a Company registered in England and Wales (number 2082273) with its Registered Office at 71 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6DX. It is an incorporated Charitable Organisation in Canada (number 83970 9524 RR0001) with its head office at 308 Main Street, Toronto ON, M4C 4X7.