Viento sur (A Wind from the South). 2012. Paraguay. Written and directed by Paz Encina. In Spanish, Guarani; English subtitles. 23 min.
A dialogue, in Guarani and Spanish, between two brothers trying to decide how to survive the war waged by Stroessner's troops in their isolated land. With a stunning soundtrack and a visual language that defies narrative, the film confronts us with the fundamental question of whether survival is to be found in migration or armed opposition.
Hamaca paraguaya (Paraguayan Hammock). 2006. Paraguay. Written and directed by Paz Encina. In Spanish, Guarani; English subtitles. 73 min.
Encina’s award-winning feature is a reflection on time, history, and still and moving images. The works of Juan Rulfo and Samuel Beckett make their way into the captivating soundtrack, as the backdrop for a dialogue between Cándida and Ramón about all that is absent—the rain, a barking dog, and the son who went to war. While they sit in a hammock in a remote rural area of Paraguay during the Chaco War in the 1930s, life develops in static images and recursive themes that illustrate Encina’s view of Paraguay as “an island surrounded by land.”