Indigenous community in the heart of Peru’s Amazon hosts film festival celebrating tropical forests

By RODRIGO ABD and FRANKLIN BRICEÑO
Associated Press

BELÉN, Peru (AP) — In the heart of Peru’s Amazon region, a poor Indigenous community put aside the trials and tribulations of everyday life and celebrated an international film festival with works from countries with tropical forests. Many who attended the 10-day event had never seen a movie on the big screen. Life in the community of Belén revolves around water. Houses and businesses are built on stilts because rains regularly lead to monthslong floods. Families own canoes to move around. So, members of the Muyuna Floating Film Festival set the screen on a 10-meter (33-foot) high wooden structure, allowing residents to enjoy the films from their canoes or the windows of their homes.