Photo by Nelson Peñaherrera C.
Ernesto and Stephanie on-location near Choropampa, Peru.
(Director/producer/camera/edition)
Navigated the traffic-choked streets of Lima for five years as a taxi driver before joining a handful of aspiring young filmmakers in 1993 to form Guarango Film and Video. The group’s mandate was to promote independent Peruvian film and video-making in a country still reeling from economic collapse and terrorism. Like the small but resilient desert tree after which it was named, Guarango has managed to survive and spread its roots. Under the tutelage of Swiss filmmaker Stefan Kaspar, Ernesto began producing short films and videos with Guarango. Along the way he has picked up edition, camera and direction skills.
Ernesto has produced fiction shorts and multi-media works for Peruvian artists and dance troupes as well as short videos for BBC World, TVE (Television Trust for the Environment), WDR, WETV Canada and Peruvian television. Choropampa, The Price of Gold is Ernesto’s directing debut and his first time working on a featurelength documentary.
Photo by Malú Cabellos
Ernesto and Stephanie receive a certificate of thanks from Choropampa representatives after presenting clips from the film in Peru’s National Congress, September 2001
(Director/producer/research/script)
Came to live and work in Peru in 1997, after a brief stint as a journalist in Kenya. During her first three years in Peru she helped edit Latinamerica Press, a human rights news bulletin covering Latin America, and published articles in numerous alternative media including Salon.com, NOW magazine and the New Internationalist. In August of 2000 she visited Choropampa for the first time, intending to write an article about the mercury spill, but was so moved and captivated by the villagers’ story she returned with her partner, Ernesto Cabellos, and begin filming. (The article has never been written). This is her first film project.