Événement

Granito, 2011, 80 min, Doc, NR in English & Native dialects w/Eng subs

A story of destinies joined by Guatemala's past, and how a documentary film intertwined with a nation's turbulent history emerges as an active player in the present.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator is a self-reflexive quasi-sequel to When the Mountains Tremble. A few years ago, Yates's earlier film was used as evidence to try a number of key players in what was eventually determined to be genocideincluding generals Yates had directly interviewed, such as Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García and Efraín Ríos Monttfor war crimes in a Spanish court seeking extradition. Granito follows Yates as she speaks with researchers and attorneys involved in the attempted trail and reminisces with victims' family members and survivors including, most famously, Rigoberta Menchú, who won a Nobel Peace Prize since appearing in When the Mountains Tremble. The new documentary, though, is really concerned with Yates's own feelings of guilt over what she perceives as the futility of her past actions, including leaving potentially damning evidence on the cutting room floor while editing When the Mountains Tremble.