Peru | Workshop and film

17.30-19.00: Workshop „Living past and authoritarian state apparatus in Peru – The struggle of human rights activists for climate justice and civil liberties“ with Kerstin Kastenholz and Heeder Soto (Berlin)

19.00-19.30: Break (with catering)

19.30-21.30: Film „Titicaca entre oro y mercurio / Titicaca zwischen Gold und Quecksilber“ (2017, 76 min.): In the Fritz Bauer Library we will show the film by director Heeder Soto. The film will be shown in Spanish and German with German subtitles.

Location: Fritz Bauer Forum, Feldmark 107, 44803 Bochum

Registration: We look forward to receiving your registration for the workshop by 26 October 2023 at: magdalena.koehler@buxus-stiftung.de

Participation costs workshop and film: €15 (incl. food and drink) | reduced* €10 | solidarity price** €20

Admission costs for film (without workshop and food & drink): 10,- € / reduced* 5,- € / solidarity price** 15,- €

Workshop with Kerstin Kastenholz and Heeder Soto

As in other Latin American countries, the political party landscape in Peru is fragmented, with corruption, the military and the ultra-right undermining democratic development and coexistence. Human rights organisations and social movements, which have been warning for years about the consequences of social inequality and the exploitation of the country based on extractivism at the expense of people and the environment, are fighting against far-right movements and an authoritarian state apparatus. The indigenous population organising protest marches in the capital Lima are not the only ones affected by the brutal police crackdown on demonstrators, but they are particularly affected due to the exploitation of their resources and racist structures. How can the groups in Peru be supported, what actions are being taken and how is the international community responding?

Kerstin Kastenholz is the manager of Saywafilms, run jointly with Heeder Soto. Kerstin Kastenholz coordinates the screenings and licences of the films and worked for several years as a consultant for transitional justice and resource conflicts in Peru and Cambodia.

Heeder Soto is a Peruvian documentary filmmaker, ethnologist, artist, human rights activist and doctoral candidate at the University of Hamburg. His latest film is called Vientos y Memorias (2022), in which he embarks on a search for his own past

Film screening „Titicaca entre oro y mercurio / Titicaca between gold and mercury“

In the presence of director Heeder Soto and Peru expert Kerstin Kastenholz

The documentary film by Peruvian filmmaker Heeder Soto (see workshop) is about climate movements in Peru, Bolivia and Germany. It is an unprecedented, courageous and bold film that denounces the slow death of the highest lake in the world: Lake Titicaca. Gold mining by „official“ and informal miners and the dumping of wastewater are drastically affecting the natural climate of the lake and all those who live off its waters. All this has devastating consequences: social conflicts, exacerbation of poverty and human trafficking, human slaughter in the mines. In comparison, the social conflicts in the German lignite mines can be observed, as well as the resistance against coal mining and the fight against environmental pollution by the RWE company; finally, the film is about a trip to Switzerland, the main buyer of Peruvian gold.

After the film, Peru expert Kerstin Kastenholz (see workshop) and director Heeder Soto will answer questions from the audience and look forward to a discussion with participants.

Notes:

*Students, trainees, pupils, pensioners, severely disabled people (degree of disability of at least 50) and people who receive unemployment benefit, social assistance, basic income support or benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz) are entitled to reduced admission on presentation of the relevant certificate.

**Soli-price: If you would like to pay a little more, you can choose the soli-price and thus help to finance admission for those who have less money at their disposal. If you would like to make use of the solidarity fund, please contact us at the event or in advance.