The course title could have been "How I transformed my economic capital into cultural capital by participating in the production of an artisanal Bolivian-Peruvian movie and became part of the Bolivian-Peruvian film history" but I find it too long for this offering.
The core of my experience can be transmitted to you in one hour and summarized reads like this: "In 2010, I traveled to La Paz Bolivia to watch how Leonidas Zegarra shot his artisanal feature film "María y los niños pobres" ("The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Impoversihed Children"). I participated as an actor, an assistant director, and in the direct sound team. Mr. Zegarra didn't have funds to edit his movie and I financed the editing in Lima, Peru, becoming a coeditor. After that, I lent him money to exhibit it in Puno and Juli (Peru), and La Paz (Bolivia). He didn't recover the investment."
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4339972/
I'm a firm believer in self-learning and I like to use open sources, which means that if you want to learn more about this experience by yourself, you can visit the following site:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4339972/
There, you can watch the movie for free (it is in Spanish), additional videos recorded “behind the camera”, and you can examine 1564 images between photographs of the shooting and stills from the movie.
If you want to understand the cultural backgound a bit more and you know Spanish, you can read my papers on the subject. I presented them at the Main National University of San Marcos of Lima (established in 1553.):
https://independent.academia.edu/JVillacorta
Beyond the basic information already provided, if you want to understand the phenomenon better, we can develop the following topics related to the experience or you can read the information all by yourself:
1) Artisanal film production and Industrial Film Production.
- Doctrinal warfare, the Cold War, and Class Struggle.
Recommended Reading:
Annex “B” to the PSD-D33, June 29, 1953, by the Psychological Strategy Board:
http://www.archives.gov/declassification/iscap/pdf/2012-036-doc1.pdf
The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters” by Frances Stonor Saunders.
“Hollywood and the U.S. Intelligence Community” by Jorge L. Villacorta (in fact, there isn’t an English translation. The article is written in Spanish and the title is: “Hollywood y la Comunidad de Espionaje Estadounidense”. It is here:
https://perucine.blogspot.com/search?q=hollywood+y+la+comunidad+de+espionaje+estadounidense
https://www.academia.edu/4478231/Hollywood_y_la_Comunidad_de_Espionaje_Estadounidense
2) Leonidas Zegarra and the Peruvian film critics.
- Taste as social training.
Recommended reading: “Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste” by Pierre Bourdieu.
3) Directorial and artistic reputation
- “The awesome director” and "the great artist" are social constructions.
Recommended Reading: “Melodrama and Meaning: History, Culture and the Films of Douglas Sirk” by Barbara Klinger.
My Master's Thesis on the film director's reputations in Lima (if you know Spanish):
http://cybertesis.unmsm.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/20.500.12672/160/Villacorta_sj.pdf
- The Leonidas Zegarra Film Museum: A work in progress Sites to visit: (To watch the photos or videos): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4335788/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5334142/ https://youtu.be/qLwADrp1IQ4 https://youtu.be/jOBk7Id39Sg https://youtu.be/yOL_tU2lyoA https://youtu.be/SfUrj2C5koU https://youtu.be/vSK-Clhxx0Y https://youtu.be/5WIy1RnDDVg https://youtu.be/tcophlAu2dc https://youtu.be/PKwR7eNb_FI http://leonidaszegarra.blogspot.com/2008/
4) The movies made by Leonidas Zegarra
- Film style according to David Bordwell.
- Is Leonidas Zegarra a “parametric” filmmaker?
Recommended Reading:
“Rest and Make Yourself Rich” by Leonidas Zegarra (1989). This non published book is an autobiography and self-help book. Originally it was written in Spanish but it was translated into English. You can download it for free from (PDF format):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw5hes_mGYZsSGY3cGxEQ2Focjg/view?pref=2&pli=1
The explanation/conversation will be in English or Spanish if you want. Please, verify if you understand my English because I am not a native speaker. You can watch this videos to find out if you understand what I say:
https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3951605273
https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3236281881 this one can be seen here, too:
https://youtu.be/dKM5uy4qd0Q
You don’t need supplies but it is useful if you can use the internet while we are talking, so I can send you links to images or videos that may be important to illustrate a point. If this is not possible, it is not a problem. Your attitude settles the tone of the conversation.