South America

South America

Subscribe Share
South America
  • Empowerment In Action: The Eco Spanish School Story

    This documentary will take you on an inspiring journey through the lives of Maria and Benedicto, two extraordinary individuals whose determination, resilience, and dedication have turned adversity into opportunity. Their Eco Spanish School, once a humble dream, has blossomed into a thriving succe...

  • Colorful Souls

    Colorful Souls spotlights Alma de Colores, a unique restaurant and store that predominantly employs individuals with disabilities, providing them with a sense of dignity and community through the opportunity to work. At the center of the narrative is Marta, a deaf cook at Alma de Colores. Through...

  • Free Motherhood - The impact of incarceration on early childhood

    In a Brazilian prison, the lives of five incarcerated mothers intertwine as they navigate the heart-wrenching reality of being separated from their babies. Currently, 63% of women in prison in the country are black and only 34% of them have completed primary school. The vast majority, 64%, are co...

  • Minerita

    Life and survival is incredibly difficult in the bleak Cerro Rico mining district in Potosi, Bolivia. This is true for the men risking their lives going down into the mine shafts looking for silver ore, but especially so for the women, who are viewed by the men as fair game.

    This powerful and br...

  • Oil On Their Hands

    For almost half a century, Quechua, Achuar, and Kichwa communities in Northern Peruvian have suffered extreme negative environmental, health, cultural, social, and economic impacts as a result of the operations of the oil companies, Occidental Petroleum (1971-2000) and subsequently Pluspetrol (20...

  • Voices from The Sea

    In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there's an island whose inhabitants subsistence depends on the sea. There has been an alarming decline of endemic species in their waters because of overfishing by international factory ships, as well as damaging plastic these same ships discard on their shores...

  • This Film is About

    In Rio de Janeiro an engineer fights for a sustainable future with spirited ideas and an unconventional source of energy - made from sewage.

    Director: Eduardo Hunter Moura

    2012 | 4 min
    Brazil
    Language: Portuguese
    Subtitles: English

    FILMMAKER Q&A:
    https://simaacademy.com/filmmaker-qa/this-film...

  • The Reunion

    Indigenous Harakmbut leaders lead journey to rediscover ancient sacred site to connect with their cultural past and protect their future.

    Director: Paul Redman
    Producer: Tim Lewis

    2014 | 9 min
    Latin America | Peru
    Languages: Spanish
    Subtitles: Portuguese, English, Indonesian, Spanish

  • The Conscious Hood: Being Black is No Crime

    Being Black Is No Crime is the fourth episode of the web-series "The Conscious Hood" documenting social issues crucial to the residents of São Paulo's Heliópolis, the second largest urban slum in Latin America. Directed by videomaker Katherine Jinyi Li and filmed during her youth journalism works...

  • Songs of The Vine (VR/360)

    Shot over the span of two months in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, ‘Songs of the Vine’ is a virtual reality documentary focusing on the healing modalities, cosmovision and culture of the Shipibo, an indigenous group best known for their mastery of ayahuasca and sacred plant medicine. By immersin...

  • Siona: Amazon's Protectors Under Threat

    Adiela Jinet Mera Paz, a leader of the Siona people, has taken up the effort to remove mines from the tribe's ancestral land, following decades of armed conflict that has left them facing extinction.

    Director: Tom Laffay
    Producer: Emily Wright
    2021 | 10 min | Colombia
    Language: Spanish
    Subtitle...

  • Rio Eu Amo Eu Cuido

    When the social movement "Rio Eu Amo Eu Cuido" was created it had a single purpose: make Rio de Janeiro a better place to live in. This documentary, shot between October 2014 and March 2015, shows a little of the movement's universe, projects and actions that took place with the help of volunteer...

  • Quipu Calls for Justice

    Esperanza and Teodula are calling for justice in rural Peru, they are part of 300,000 people sterilised without consent more than 18 years ago. The Quipu Project is their phone line that allows the affected across the country to share their shocking testimonies and ensure those responsible are pu...

  • Mapping Riverline Communities

    The community of Lago do Mainá have lived with the forest and the river, nature for them is the most fundamental thing they have. However a military training base and increasing incursions by soldiers created tension between the community and the army. Through the use of social mapping the people...

  • Manrique

    Yoiner Machado – The founder of a dance academy in Manrique, teacher and professional in dance as well as creator of methodologies for the coexistence and peace-building through dance. For 13 years he has been dedicated to the transformation of communities and has impacted 1,500 lives. He empower...

  • Green Gold

    As the global demand for the super food avocados has soared, Chile has become the world’s third largest exporter of avocados. But the community of Petorca, in northern Chile say drought and the insatiable appetite for avocados has brought desperate water shortages.

    This film explores the quiet...

  • Freedom

    Brazil’s African slave descendants, the Quilombola, have fought a long and hard struggle for recognition. After the abolition of the slave trade they were left abandoned and ostracised, devoid of rights and outside of Brazilian mainstream society. But things are slowly changing amongst rural comm...

  • Familia Ayara

    Don Popo’s life changes when he discovers hip-hop at the age of eleven. From that very moment, hip-hop became the tool that allowed him to dream of a more just and beautiful world: one that is full of wonderful possibilities. Through his Foundation, Familia Ayara, he tries to revive that same exp...

  • Brazil's Warrior Women

    The humble babassu palm provides a livelihood for communities of women across North Eastern Brazil. Bread, charcoal, oil and soap are produced from the nut and husk; the surplus is sold on. But production has not always been so peaceful. Babassu: Brazil’s Warrior Women tells the story of the hard...

  • Barrio De Paz

    Set in Guayaquil Ecuador, Barrio de Paz tells the story of peace worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo and the city's gang youth, who have left behind a life of crime to come together and provide services to their struggling community. Loved like a mother, Nelsa has helped the gangs channel their need fo...

  • A Turn For The Better

    Food is so fundamental to make a population a lot stronger and healthier. It is an axis that should not be neglected.” In Bolivia, people eat poorly and more of the same. Local old grains as canuhua are about to be forgotten. Three women take a turn for the better…

    This video was commissioned by...