Con mi corazón en Yambo
Ecuador
Maria Fernanda Restrepo
Why do I prefer to forget instead of facing my pain?
On January 8, 1988, when I was 10 years old, my parents decided to take a vacation and they left me with my two brothers, 17-year-old Santiago and 14-year-old Andrés. That day I had gone to a party and they were supposed to pick me up in the late afternoon. Hours passed, night came and dawn found me standing at the window, still waiting. They never arrived. After a year of mystery and anguish, we learned that that day my brothers had been detained, tortured, murdered and their bodies had disappeared, all at the hands of the Ecuadorian police for no reason whatsoever. Although their bodies were thrown into Lake Yambo, 2 hours from Quito, we never found them. Twenty years after their disappearance, a new search in the Lake Yambo is due to begin. Parallel to this, a whole new discovery will begin for me; a rediscovery of this story that I wasn’t able to live directly.
I have always remained on the margin of the official story, and have preferred to keep my distance, yet there is something that nags at me constantly. My father, however, never stopped trying to discover the truth over the course of these 20 years. He has not allowed to forget. Nor has he given us time to bury our memory. This documentary will be a personal rediscovery of the story of struggle and madness left imprinted in my fragile memory, aided by what my father, Pedro José Restrepo, remembers. In addition to my father’s memories, we will rely on the testimonies of other people who were involved in the case.
On January 8, 1988, when I was 10 years old, my parents decided to take a vacation and they left me with my two brothers, 17-year-old Santiago and 14-year-old Andrés. That day I had gone to a party and they were supposed to pick me up in the late afternoon. Hours passed, night came and dawn found me standing at the window, still waiting. They never arrived. After a year of mystery and anguish, we learned that that day my brothers had been detained, tortured, murdered and their bodies had disappeared, all at the hands of the Ecuadorian police for no reason whatsoever. Although their bodies were thrown into Lake Yambo, 2 hours from Quito, we never found them. Twenty years after their disappearance, a new search in the Lake Yambo is due to begin. Parallel to this, a whole new discovery will begin for me; a rediscovery of this story that I wasn’t able to live directly.
I have always remained on the margin of the official story, and have preferred to keep my distance, yet there is something that nags at me constantly. My father, however, never stopped trying to discover the truth over the course of these 20 years. He has not allowed to forget. Nor has he given us time to bury our memory. This documentary will be a personal rediscovery of the story of struggle and madness left imprinted in my fragile memory, aided by what my father, Pedro José Restrepo, remembers. In addition to my father’s memories, we will rely on the testimonies of other people who were involved in the case.
Support:
Festivals and Awards:
Ecuador 2011: Public Award
Créteil 2012: Best Documentary and Public Award
Geneva 2012: Public Award
Créteil 2012: Best Documentary and Public Award
Geneva 2012: Public Award
World Sales:
Randi Krarup