Esta Esperanza

In this documentary shot in post-war El Salvador, Salvadorians from all over the country recount the nightmare of their twelve-year civil war.

In the mountains of Guazapa an FLMN guerrilla shows where he lived and how he fought for six years before being captured by government forces. A student describes what happened to him and his teachers at the University of Central America. Jesuit priests were leaders in the struggle for justice and often targeted for assassination by the government forces. In contrast to these testimonies, a member of the upper class complains that the church had become mixed up in politics.

Although scars from the war remain vivid, people are rebuilding their lives. Farmland is being cleared and replanted, new construction is taking place in the city. Perhaps the most hopeful sign of all is that former enemies are working together and beginning to forgive one another.

Latin American Studies Association
Finalist, Sinking Creek Film Festival