‘Fuga - Bénédicte Liénard & Mary Jiménez’

Fuga by Bénédicte Liénard & Mary Jiménez

In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, Saor, a young shaman, returns to his native village to bury his lost love, Valentina. There, he gradually uncovers Valentina’s past, shaped by violence and buried secrets.

Through this fictional story, based on testimonies and performed by non-professional actors, the film explores the 1980s and 90s, a period marked by a bloody conflict between the state and two armed groups, resulting in over 69,000 deaths and 15,000 disappearances. Fuga particularly highlights the homophobic violence. With empathy, Bénédicte Liénard and Mary Jimenez reveal a little-known chapter of Peruvian history.

Born in Peru, Mary Jimenez pursued film studies in Belgium. She has also taught filmmaking in Belgium, Cuba and Switzerland. Being a writer and a director for more than 30 years, Mary’s work includes films like Du Verbe Aimer (1984), Loco Lucho (1998) and La Position du Lion Couché (2006), all of wich have been selected at numerous festivals woldwide. The previous film By the name of Tania (2019) was already her third collaboration with Bénédicte Liénard.

Bénédicte Liénard studied film direction. After her studies, she worked as assistant director on the films of, among others, the Dardenne brothers and Raymond Depardon. Her first feature film Une Part du Ciel (2002) was screened at Cannes, Toronto, San Sebastian and New York. She went on to direct numerous hard-hitting documentaries, widely screened both in festivals and on television. Fuga (2024) is her fourth co-direction with Mary Jimenez.

The screening of 04/10 will be preceded by an introduction by Bénédicte Liénard & Mary Jiménez and will be followed by a Q&A.​​​​​​​