Cine y memoria del Conflicto Armado Interno en Perú (1980-2000): el cine testimonial de Palito Ortega Matute

Abstract

The so-called “Internal Armed Conflict” (1980-2000), has been one of the most violent periods in contemporary Peruvian history, marked by the extreme violence of the Communist Party of Peru-Shining Path and by the violations of Human Rights in the repressive response of the State. Despite the immense work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the “battles of memory” in Perú still oppose the so-called “salvation memory” (which does not recognize the crimes of the State) to the memories focused on the perspective of the victims, battles in which artistic and cultural production plays an important role. The cinematographic work of the Ayacucho filmmaker Palito Ortega Matute (1967-2018) is one of the clearest examples relating testimonial cinema about the period of the “Internal Armed Conflict” in Peru (1980-2000). Especially the film El rincon de los inocentes (The Corner of the Innocent, made in 2005 and released in 2013) stands out as one of the most intense works on the disappearances in Ayacucho. Due to its ability to vindicate the resistance of the families of the victims and focus their demands and their point of view, the film can be considered one of the most decisive contributions, in the field of culture, to the struggle for justice and for an “humanitarian approach” in the attention to the victims.