Victor Jara: The Right to Live in Peace 1999
Distributed by LAVA - Latin American Video Archives, 124 Washington Place, New York, NY 10014; 212-243-4804
Produced by Filmocentro Distribucion, Chile
Directed by Carmen Luz Parot
VHS, color, 60 min.
Sr. High - Adult
South American Studies, Area Studies, Biography, Human Rights
Date Entered: 11/21/2003
Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las VegasThis video is a biography/documentary of the life of Victor Jara, the great 20th-century Chilean songwriter/musician/social activist. The film is in Spanish, with English subtitles.
Victor Jara grew up in the slums of Santiago, Chile, and received a university education in theatre. Early on he had a love of music, participating in church choirs and other performing groups. He was one of the main proponents of the "nueva cancion" or Chilean New Song movement that sought, through music and the arts, to reestablish democracy in Chile. The video shows dramatic footage and photos of Jara's life and the events leading up to his death in the aftermath of the 1973 military takeover of Chile.
Interviews with friends and contemporaries, as well as his widow, are interspersed throughout. It is a moving tribute and testimony to a person of great vision and leadership, who was murdered at the prime of his life. Victor Jara: The Right to Live in Peace is highly recommended not only because the compilation and storytelling is done exceptionally well, but also because it is a home-grown (Chilean) effort to portray and represent the life of one of Chile's most famous singers and activists whose work truly helped to unite a people and nation under one goal: the right to live in peace.