Out and about in Nicaragua
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Out and about in Nicaragua |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1987 |
| length | 29 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Petra Tschörtner |
| script | Petra Tschörtner |
| production | DEFA studio for documentaries |
| camera | Gunther mug |
| cut | Angelika Arnold |
On the move in Nicaragua with the subtitle A cinematic travelogue for children is a documentary film by Petra Tschörtner from 1987 by the DEFA studio for documentaries .
action
The film tells in three episodes about the everyday life of children in Nicaragua . In December 1986 the film team drove through the Central American country near the equator , i.e. in the tropics . In 1979 the Sandinista People's Revolution took place here. In December it is summer in the country and the mostly Catholic residents celebrate Christmas .
The Garcia family farm is on the road between Jinotega and the northern border. The father introduces them and reports how his day is going. He gets up at five o'clock, has a coffee, takes his machete and goes into the field, where he stays until the afternoon. The biggest problem in the country is getting something to eat, so sometimes it is not enough for all family members. Ten-year-old Marina already has to help, she washes the laundry and mainly helps in the kitchen. She enjoys her work because she likes helping the parents. She doesn't have any toys, but she has a card game, which she can play with her three siblings on Sundays. The farmers in this area primarily grow red beans and corn . Everywhere in the fields you can see children who have to help their parents. They cannot go to school because there are very few of them here. It is lucky for the family that they live by a lake, because there is no water pipe yet.
The next morning we continue south, more inland, to the small town of Masaya . There is a lot to buy in the market there, which is also harvested in Nicaragua, but most people have too little money to be able to afford it. At the market, the film team noticed the two funny girls Jeanette and Liesbeth, who sell self-made sombreros that are good to use at temperatures of over 45 degrees Celsius. With the money they earn, they buy some fruit and vegetables. Otherwise the two girls go to school, but now it's summer vacation, which lasts from December to March. Then it goes to their home. It's December 24th and a duck is being slaughtered to celebrate the day, a meal the family can't afford for the rest of the year. 19 people, 12 children and 7 adults live in the family of Jeanette and Liesbeth. Liesbeth's parents were murdered by Somoza's people 10 years ago , so she now lives with her cousin Jeanette. Jeanette also says that she has been making the hats for about four years and one hat is ready in about half an hour. It costs 1500 Cordoba on sale , which is roughly the price of three bottles of Cola. Finally, the two girls sing a Christmas carol for the film team.
Now it goes again north to the province of Matagalpa to the coffee plantation San Antonio. Maria lives there with her own three children and one adopted who no longer has any parents. She is 28 years old and has been picking coffee for five years, her husband was killed in the fight against the Contras . Bernardo, the big boy, has to help pick coffee while his little siblings go to a kindergarten that didn't exist before the revolution. Maria says that they have to work all day to get something to eat, and then there is the war that makes things worse. Sometimes militiamen come from the capital to help with the harvest. They come with guns because fighting with the Contras is still going on on the border with Honduras . San Antonio is the last stop on this trip.
Production and publication
The first verifiable performance of the film shot on ORWO- Color took place on December 10, 1987 in the Offers series at the Babylon cinema in Berlin . The film was shown for the first time on 19 July 1989 in the first program on GDR television .
Awards
- 1989: Children's film festival Goldener Spatz : special award from the Association of Film and TV Makers
Web links
- Out and about in Nicaragua at filmportal.de
- Out and about in Nicaragua at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of December 5, 1987, p. 12
- ↑ Neues Deutschland from July 19, 1989, p. 8
- ↑ Neues Deutschland, February 13, 1989, p. 4