- Date of Release: 08 June 2025
- Genre: Documentary
- Language: Quachua
- Watch On: Tribeca Film Festival
Runa Simi
Introduction
For us 90s kids, The Lion King (1994) has got to be one of the best animation movies of all times. In fact, it isn’t a movie but more of an emotion. Personally speaking, there are no many philosophies of life that I have learnt while watching the beautiful animation feature at various junctures of my life. And that is something that makes the subject universal. In an early scene in the documentary Runa Simi, you see a character dub a scene of The Lion King in Quachua, a native language spoken by members of the indigenous community in Peru (and places around it). Immediately, the context of the drama is set – Fernando Valencia’s love for cinema that allows him to take a step for his community, by simply aspiring to make cinema accessible in his native language. The conflict transported me to the rebellious Irish film Kneecap (2024), wherein the protagonists fought a similar battle to keep the thread of an ancient language alive through the process of music. Yet, the tones of both the films are drastically different – while Kneecap was non-conformist and chaotic, there is a soothing energy in Runa Simi that aspires to trigger a silent emotion through the power of cinema!
What's Good
In subjects pertaining to language, the one thing that I immensely expect is to dip the drama in the sugary culture of the setting, simply to give an idea about the cultural roots of the drama which are key building blocks with respect to the subject. In Runa Simi directed by Augusto Zegarra, there is a strong cultural connect with respect to the roots of the protagonist in the Quachuan culture that shown to be fast diminishing (through a callback sequence featuring his wonderful mother). His battle isn’t designed to be rebellious, instead it is aspiration given the sensitivity that he brings to the table with respect to his love for cinema. In a scene, you see him sitting under the night sky with his son and referring to the star as movies, while exclaiming that there are no bad movies, just good movies, a sentiment that automatically binds the universe together in his culture.
Like any 90s kid, it is Fernando’s love for The Lion King that inspires him to make a piece of cinema so dear to him, accessible to many people who speak and understand only Quachua language, while not understanding a word of English (the original language of The Lion King). And naturally this thought of dubbing the film in his native language is a norm that only could be successful if the studio ‘Disney’ would agree for the same. But in times when profit overpowers emotions, the struggle for Fernando remains palpable, even as you see him hustling through every possible medium to get in touch with the Disney officials. And yet, the beauty of the film lies in his struggle given his ability to bounce back after every rejection. In a way, Fernando also equates his life to Simba while immensely believing in the philosophy of ‘Hakuna Matata’ (literally translated to ‘no worries’ in life).
There are straight up parallels with the Hindi documentary film Supermen Of Malegaon (2008), while witnessing the beats of the documentary here. The driving force in both these films is that of the characters love for cinema, almost going out of the way to fulfill their individual dreams. For instance, you witness Fernando conducting auditions in order to dub the film in his native language, something that would be accessible to elders and children of the community. His argument even with the director of the original film remains simple – cinema would open new doors for the community while protecting the ancient Peruvian language that is fast diminishing. Hence, his journey of success marks a parallel path to his journey of rejection, leading upto a bittersweet finale that will tingle with the strings of your heart, just as much as you begin to root for his success.
What's Not So Good
There are instances in the documentary particularly in parts of the second and third act that felt slightly repetitive. The lags in the narrative did briefly creep up given how the documentary was caught in a bit of a loop with respect to what it wished to say. The cycle of blunting information did feel slightly repetitive with the pointers that didn’t necessarily find a solution by the end of things. Hence, even atba sedate runtime of 81 minutes, the events felt a little stretched even though some palpable emotions paper over the cracks in the narrative, making you want to ignore some parts of the criticism.
My Final Take
We live in times when the corporates have been running the show, and churning out money-spinners that may or may not do justice to the potential of cinema touching the hearts of various folks from around the globe. Cinema remains a medium of inclusivity wherein all opinions matter, all opinions can co-exist while being the first window of a new place on this globe, culturally speaking. But when money weighs higher than the emotions, you do see films getting dubbed in only popular languages while completing ignoring the ones on the fringes (given no monetary returns). My take here is more on the lines of inclusivity – cinema has the power to trascend beyond boundaries and that is where local players like Fernando come into play. Probably, there could be a corporate wing that would actively work with locals like Fernando, in their quests to preserve many of the dimishing languages from across the globe, and invariably broaden the boundaries of cinema by bringing in a new set of the audience that will be here to stay. In times when accessibility of films remains a challenge with the focus being of subtitles, the model of dubbing films in local languages can easily be the new norm with the use of Artificial Intelligence that could literally be a low-cost boon for so many communities around the world. People look up to cinema because they resonate with the underlying emotions, and imagine a world wherein every community speaks a different language while reflecting the same thoughts of love and universal brotherhood through the piece of cinema that they all would have witnessed (with room even for varied opinions based on their cultural references). That is the world we could aim for!
Conclusion
As a part of our Tribeca Film Festival coverage, Runa Simi is a poignant documentary on identity and language preservation laced with the palpable emotions of cinema that makes for a rather heartfelt watch. Highly Recommended!
