Persistencia
a film by Anne Huffschmid and Jan-Holger Hennies
Human bodies don’t simply disappear. They were kidnapped, buried, broken into pieces. But they are also searched for, recovered and if forensic experts achieve the unlikely, reconstructed as persons. These only return to their homes if they are identified as dead. An audiovisual journey through Mexico’s landscapes of disappearance, between mass graves and fragments, affected families and forensic anthropologists. In search for the human that remains, against the odds.
credits
Idea, research, script: Anne Huffschmid
Direction and audiovisual concept: Anne Huffschmid and Jan-Holger Hennies
Camera, sound, editing: Jan-Holger Hennies
Sound design: Adriana Álvarez
Color grading: Rubén Castillo Pescina
Camera 2013: Thomas Walther
Artwork: Mariana Castillo Deball
With financial support by: Brot für die Welt (mit Mitteln des Kirchlichen Entwicklungsdienstes), Deutsche Stiftung Friedensforschung, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ciudad de México, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, VolkswagenStiftung
A production within the research project “Forensic Landscapes” (Anne Huffschmid, Freie Universität Berlin)
54 minutes, Spanish with English and German subtitles
Mexico / Germany 2019
watch
Stream at the RAI Film catalogue.
Stream at Kanopy.
Stream at Docs en Línea by DocsMX (Mexico only).
If you would like to screen the documentary for non-profit, activist, or educational purposes, we are pleased to share the film. Please contact Anne Huffschmid and/or Jan-Holger Hennies.
awards
2020
Winner category “Made in Mexico”, DocsMX, Mexico City, Mexico
festivals
2021
RAI FILM Festival, Bristol, UK
el aleph, Festival de Arte y Ciencia, Mexico City, Mexico
Foro de Cine Etnográfico, VI COMASE, Mexico
2020
DocsMX, Mexico City, Mexico
Ambulante (Sección Coordenadas), Mexico (canceled due to Covid-19)
dokumentarfilmwoche Hamburg, Germany (canceled due to Covid-19)
ethnocineca, Vienna, Austria (canceled due to Covid-19)
Jean Rouch International Film Festival, Paris, France
PukaÑawi Festival Internacional de Cine de los Derechos Humanos de Sucre, Bolivia
Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, Greece
Festival de Cine Etnográfico de Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
EASA Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal
LASA2020 Film Festival, Guadalajara, Mexico
screenings
2024
Centro Cultural de la Memoria Haroldo Conti, Ex ESMA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Centro de Producción e Investigación en Artes, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
2023
Iberoamerikanisches Institut, Berlin, Germany
Casa del Cine, Mexico City, Mexico
Museo Casa de la Memoria, Medellín, Colombia
Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
Universidad de la Ciudad de México, Mexico
2022
“Paisajes de exterminio y resistencias forenses – travesías audiovisuales”, FRAGMENTOS Espacio de Arte y Memoria, Bogotá, Colombia
Retrospectiva, Festival de Cine Etnográfico de Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
“Hasta encontrarnos. Memorias en resistencia”, Cine Tonalá, Mexico City, Mexico
Ciclo Desaparición Forzada, Cineteca Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
Andenbuch Buchhandlung, Berlin, Germany
“Schweigen(d) erzählen: Gewaltlandschaften und Widerstand”, KLICK Kino, Berlin, Germany
2021
“¡HASTA ENCONTRARLES!”, Festival de Cine en Casa, New York City, USA
Romero-Filmtage, Hamburg, Germany
2020
Le Cinéma IFAL, Mexico City, Mexico
Galería de Arte Contemporáneo, Xalapa, Mexico
Ex Convento Betlehemit, Puerto de Veracruz, Mexico
Museo Arocena, Torreón, Mexico
Institute for Latin American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
2019
Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, Mexico City, Mexico
Cineforo Universidad, Guadalajara, Mexico
Cineteca Chihuahua, Chihuahua City, Mexico
Brot für die Welt, Berlin, Germany
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