Educational Media Reviews Online

Ujirei (Regeneration) takes place in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay, but as Director Mateo Sobode Chiqueno states at one point in the film, “I will always be Chiqueno. I will always be Ayoreo. I am Ducodegose.” It is this story of being Ayoreo now in the twenty first century, in the Gran Chaco of Paraguay, that is quietly and powerfully told in this film.

One powerful way that Chiqueno shows his and his clan’s setting is through the scenes of tractors and other equipment removing trees and landscape. These tractors are provided by the local government to the indigenous community ceremoniously with a speech: “We ask that you use them responsibly, that you take care of them. Repairs are expensive…” In other scenes, Chiqueno shares his culture by telling the tale of the jaguar and the seemingly weaker armadillo, an animal who appears in the footage documenting the day-to-day life of Chiqueno’s community.

Among the most powerful scenes showing the experience of contemporary life for the Ayoreo are those with Chiqueno’s older family members. Chiqueno asks his elders if the doctors listen to them, and if they have firewood to cook with, and food to eat. Chiqueno offers to help but shares his observation with the camera: “When someone is sick, they lay on the ground. This is what I am telling to you, my people.”

Chiqueno ends the film where it began: in front of the camera. “We cannot let the Cojñone dominate us or our lands” he states. By capturing the experience of Chiqueno’s community at this critical moment in the present, Chiqueno has brought a personal experience to a wider audience.

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