NYANGA

Animated film | Director: Medhin Tewolde Serrano | Running time: 20 min. | Country: Mexico | Year: 2023 | Produced by: Terra Nostra Films.
Synopsis: 

During the colonial era, Nyanga was kidnapped off the coast of Africa, brought to Mexico and enslaved. Based on historical fact, and using shadow theater and hand made cinema, ‘Nyanga’ is an homage to resistance against colonial chains.

Medhin Tewolde Serrano

Medhin Tewolde Serrano is Eritrean-Mexican and lives in Chiapas. Upon completing her studies in documentary filmmaking, she became concerned with telling the stories of others. Since then, she has dedicated herself to accompanying participatory video and community communication processes in Spain, Tunisia, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. In accompanying these processes, her own process of identity construction as a woman of African descent was revealed to her. This led her to direct her first feature-length documentary: ‘Negra’. During this process, she learned of the story of Gaspar Yanga, an Afro-Mexican hero who, unfortunately, is little known. For this reason, she decided to create an animated short film inspired by his biography and entitled ‘Nyanga’. It is an homage to marroonage yesterday and today.

Statement: 

Inspired by the biography of Gaspar Yanga, ‘’Nyanga’’ tells the story of a man who was kidnapped, enslaved and brought to Mexico during the colonial era, under inhumane conditions. Official history taught us little about our own history. All that it taught us is that we are the descendants of enslaved people. For this reason, it is necessary to change the narrative and learn how our ancestry is not only shaped by slavery, but also by the men and women who fought and rebelled against the chains of colonialism to obtain their freedom. 

The short film tells a story based on historical facts that are relayed through a first-person narration that goes beyond the hero figure of Nyanga, bringing us closer to the emotionality of the person. The film uses the animation techniques of shadow theater and handmade cinema, which in an artisanal and analogue way, breath life and magic into the story.

Awards: 

Special Jury Mention for Best Mexican Documentary Short Film (XXVI Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico)

Honorable Mention for Animation Craft Technique, Latin American New Talent Competition (XXVIII Festival de Cine de Zaragoza, Spain)

Best Documentary Short Film (XXVI Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, Austin, USA)

Special Jury Mention for International Latino Animation (XXIII LALIFF - Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, USA)

Special Jury Mention for Best International Animation Film (VII PORTO FEMME International Film Festival, Portugal)

Animation Social, Political, Cultural Impact Award (XIV Latino & Native American Film Festival, Connecticut, USA)

Best Short Fiction Film (XVI FICCA - Festival Internacional de Cine Africano de Argentina, Argentina)

Special Mention for Best Animation Film (XXIX Canberra Short Film Festival, Australia)

Best Animated Short (IX Hobnobben Film Festival, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA)

Best Short Film Overall (IV Fort Smith International Film Festival, Arkansas, USA)

Best Animated Film (VI Quibdó África Film Festival, Colombia)

Honorable Mention, Chimal competition (XII Documenta Festival Internacional de Cine y Narrativas de No Ficción, Querétaro, Mexico)

Special Mention RAFMA Award (XVI FICCA - Festival Internacional de Cine Africano de Argentina, Argentina)

Best People of Color Short Film (IV Fort Smith International Film Festival, Arkansas, USA)

Lola Award Honorific Mention (XIII Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, USA)

“Negritud” Award Winner (II Muestra De Cine Afrodiaspóricas: Da Pitia Taim, San Andrés Islas, Colombia)

Audience Award, 2nd place (XVI Festival Pantalla Latina (St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Best National Animated Short Film Award (II Cinegro Festival, Guerrero, Mexico)

 
Festivals: 

XXV RiverRun International Film Festival (USA)

XXXVI IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Netherlands)

XXVI Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico)

XVI Animasyros International Animation Festival (Syros, Greece)

XVIII Ambulante Documental Itinerante (Mexico)

XII ULTRAcinema (Mexico)

XXI Morelia International Film Festival (Mexico)

XXVIII Festival de Cine de Zaragoza (Spain)

XVI Festival Zanate (Colima, Mexico)

XI Filméxico (Salt Lake City, USA)

XV Vienna Central American Film Festival (Austria)

VIII Libre Cinema Festival (Mérida, Mexico)

VII Beijing International Short Film Festival (China)

IX Bulbul Children's International Film Festival (India)

XXIII Docpoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (Finland)

XXVI San Francisco Independent Film Festival (USA)

XIV Latino & Native American Film Festival (Connecticut, USA)

XXXI San Diego Latino Film Festival (USA)

XXVII Sonoma International Film Festival (USA)

XLVIII Cleveland International Film Festival (USA)

VII PORTO FEMME International Film Festival (Portugal)

XIII Julien Dubuque International Film Festival (Iowa, USA)

XII Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival (Victoria, Canada)

XXVI Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (Austin, USA)

XIII Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival (USA)

XXIII LALIFF - Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (USA)

VII NAIFF-Nepal America International Film Festival (Maryland, USA)

IX Festival De Cine Etnográfico De Ecuador (Quito, Ecuador)

XIII Aegean Film Festival (island of Patmos, Greece)

VI IceDocs - Iceland Documentary Film Festival (Akranes, Iceland)

XII Doqumenta Festival Internacional de Cine y Narrativas de No Ficción (Querétaro, Mexico)

XVI FICCA - Festival Internacional de Cine Africano de Argentina (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

XXIV FICICA Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes Cine a las Calles (Barranquilla, Colombia)

VII School Cinema International Film Festival (Bangalore, Karnatak, India)

V Docu Film León (Guanajuato, Mexico)

IV Fort Smith International Film Festival (Arkansas, USA)

XX Muestra Internacional de Mujeres en el Cine y la Televisión (Mexico)

II Festival Kultura Con (Veracruz, Mexico)

XIX Shorts México (Mexico City, Mexico)

VI Quibdó África Film Festival (Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia)

XIII Encuentro De Cine Y Video Documental Independiente: Contra El Silencio Todas Las Voces (Mexico)

VIII Cinefest Latino Boston (Massachusetts, USA)

XIII Richmond International Film Festival (Virginia, USA)

IX Hobnobben Film Festival (Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA)

II Anibia Festival De Animación (Bogotá, Colombia)

XVI Festival Internacional de Cine de Cali (Colombia)

II Festival El Lugar Que Habitamos (Oaxaca, Mexico)

II Muestra De Cine Afrodiaspóricas: Da Pitia Taim (San Andrés Islas, Colombia)

II Festival Cinéfil (Charleville-Mézières, France)

XXIX Canberra Short Film Festival (Australia)

XVI Festival Pantalla Latina (St. Gallen, Switzerland)

XXVI Festival FILMAR en América Latina (Geneva, Switzerland)

II Cinegro Festival (Guerrero, Mexico)

XXII Seattle Black Film Festival (USA)

XXV African American Women In Cinema Film Festival (Nueva York, USA)