Afro-descendant women from the riverside communities of San Juan, Istmina and the Litoral del San Juan in Chocó are the protagonists of the short documentary: “Rescuing the memory of the viche”, in which they explain how they make this ancestral drink of great importance for Afro-descendant and indigenous communities throughout the Pacific region.
Jennifer Palencia, Juan Camilo Moreno Valencia, Paola Murillo and Geny Murillo made the short social documentary that narrates how Afro-descendant women make one of the most special drinks in Colombia: El Viche.
“Rescuing the memory of the viche“
The director Jennifer Palencia explained that this documentary began its production in 2021 and ended in 2022. Likewise, she has participated in the First International Colloquium on Education and Interculturality “Territory, Pedagogy and Subjects” in 2022, Cine al Aire – A Media Caña with the University of Antioquia held in 2022, the Eighth Afro Film Festival “Ananse 2022” and the Second Amphibious Film Festival “Festicibio” in 2023, during which the documentary received an Audience Award.
“It is a short social documentary that has a joint participation with the leading women. It is an elaboration together with them. It was not just taking the production team with her director and making a documentary, but we really wanted the Choco women to be protagonists, ”said Palencia.
This documentary, which takes place in the department of Chocó, in the municipalities of Istmina and Litoral del San Juan, tells the story of twelve “vicheras” women, who live on the banks of the San Juan and Copomá rivers and their economic work. main is the production of viche.
The filmmakers explain that this short social documentary was recorded in its entirety using only cell phones.
The testimony of these women contributes to the construction of the historical memory of viche, based on the knowledge obtained by their ancestors, the importance of sugarcane cultivation, the need for viche as an ancestral medicine and as a product for sale that helps to the peasant economy and the economic support of their families.
The documentary describes step by step the elaboration of the viche, from the cultivation of the cane, its harvest, its transport and the grinding, as well as the cooking, fermentation and subsequent distillation and packaging. It is also a powerful resource for the reconstruction of ancestral memory because it narrates the work carried out by Vichera women and the cultural significance they have in the San Juan region.