Cineworx Filmproduction, 74mins
IDFA Competition: Opening Night, HotDocs
Facing the consequences of a violent uprooting, Mateo Sobode Chiqueno has been recording stories, songs, and testimonies of his Ayoreo people since the seventies. In an attempt to preserve fragments of a disappearing culture, Mateo walks across communities in the arid and desolate Paraguayan Chaco region, and registers on cassettes the experiences of other Ayoreo who, like him, were born in the vast forest, free and nomadic, without any contact with white civilization, until religious missionaries forced them to abandon their ancestral territory, their means of subsistence, their beliefs and their home.
Producers - Pascal Trächslin
Co-Producer - Arami Ullón Cine, Associate Producers: Sebastián Muro, Andrew Sala
Featuring - Con Mateo Sobode Chiqueno, Apai Roman Dosape Chiqueno, Tune Picanerai, Dojae Tona Picanere, Ibeua Chiqueno, Cuteijnai Etacore, Jupide Candida Chiqueno, Igaubi Antonio Dosape Chiqueno, Amajnane Picanerai, Y Comunidades Ayoreo Del Chaco Paraguayo
Cinematographer - Gabriel Lobos
Music - Canciones Tradicionales Del Pueblo Ayoreo
Production Manager - Karen Fraenkel
Colorist - Caique De Souza
"I hope our government gets to know this film, about the life of the Ayoreo people and that it will also be known in other countries. I am Mateo Sobode Chiqueno."
"Powerful and moving."
"Powerful, enthralling and deeply beautiful.
https://businessdoceurope.com/idfa-opening-film-review-nothing-but-the-sun-by-arami-ullo/?fbclid=IwAR0vDLtZYdC5JW9f69YIrHZ4bJGjSCC_CWCQY9qmZLnqIMBW4UhFPSknhtk"
"One of the latent bitter messages in Nothing But the Sun is that if the sun spoke back now, the Ayoreo would not be able to understand it. A metaphor for how we as humans can lose contact with the earth and everything around us. https://filmkrant.nl/artikel/idfa-2020-verdwijnende-werelden/"
"A testament to the human and cultural destructive power of white, Christian arrogance.
https://www.moderntimes.review/a-lost-world-in-the-name-of-god/"
"In an astute way, the film juxtaposes the hot, arid environment of the Chaco region of Paraguay with the stories of the Ayoreo people, who have been forcibly driven from their ancestral territory by white missionaries. Between past and present, forest and desert, folk songs and church songs, Ullón's poetic film exposes the raw emotions of the human condition. A film about a culture that is on the verge of extinction, but is not yet giving up.
https://nbf.nl/2020/11/19/idfa-2020-officieel-geopend-door-minister-van-onderwijs-cultuur-en-wetenschap-ingrid-van-engelshoven/"
"Arami Ullón’s film is patient and thoughtful. Allowing it’s subject to travel at his own pace, without comment or judgement.
https://www.backseatmafia.com/idfa-review-nothing-but-the-sun/"
"A compelling doc film about culture and identity made with compassion and understanding.
https://www.firstshowing.net/2020/saving-paraguayan-ayoreo-culture-in-nothing-but-the-sun-doc-trailer/"
"Narrow in its focus but substantial in its impact, Nothing But The Sun offers eloquent, emotional insights into the continuing catastrophe of colonialism.
https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/nothing-but-the-sun-idfa-review-opening-film/5154929.article"
Arami Ullón was born in Asunción, Paraguay, in 1978, during the long and harsh dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. As a director she has done two independent short films: Ausencia de un nombre propio (Paraguay, 1998), and Beckon (Paraguay, 2000). She also directed theatre A bizarre matter of love (Paraguay, 2000). As an author, Arami published About abuse and other relatives, a book containing short stories which main theme is gender abuse. She was awarded a scholarship to the Boston Film and Video Foundation, where she studied hands-on filmmaking (US, 2000/2001) Her experience in production includes: music videos, TV programs and commercials for Latin American and European production companies. She was part of the production team for international feature films such as El toque del Oboe (Paraguay – Brazil, 1997), Miami Vice (US, 2006). Ullón is the producer of 18 cigarrillos y medio (Paraguay – Mexico – Spain, 2011). After producing for Palma Pictures (Spain) she just finished her first cinema documentary, El Tiempo Nublado (Switzerland – Paraguay).