Lights, camera, peace: Tec student 2nd place in international festival

Ana Victoria Villanueva, a second-semester student at PrepaTec Santa Fe, has won second place at the “Peace in the Street Global Film Festival” contest organized by the Peacemaker Corps and supported by the United Nations (UN).

Ana Victoria was awarded for her short documentary “Kórima” about an aid campaign that she led for the Rarámuri community in the Sierra Tarahumara.

The short film contest aims to recognize and raise awareness about global problems from the perspective of young students and then develop joint solutions.

This film festival and contest is open to students under the age of 18 from different parts of the world and awards about 30 short films each year.

Kórima: the path of solidarity

“I think that it’s important for people to realize what’s happening and for children like us to be able to do something about it,” says Ana Victoria.

The student says that “Kórima” has an important meaning for her because it is about the community work that her family has been carrying out for generations.

“Kórima means sharing in Rarámuri, and it’s about the Tarahumara community in the mountains of Chihuahua. They’re people who have no resources and who face extreme weather conditions. The aim of the project is to invite people to share a little love by sending them blankets,” she explains.

“It all started with Bibi, my cousin’s grandmother who’s from Chihuahua. She began helping those most in need, but it’s getting more difficult every day, so she entrusted this great legacy to my cousin and me.”

According to Ana Victoria, this experience is an opportunity to meet and attract more people to her cause.

“There are weekends that are completely dedicated to packing blankets but during this time we meet more people willing to help and we know the more people, the better.

“With these types of missions, as I call them, we aim to get more people to join so every day we can achieve more,” she says.

Peace in the Street Global Film Festival

This is the fourth time that Ana has competed at the film festival; she says that her first encounter with the contest was due to her parents’ work in education.

“My parents used to attend contests with their students at the school where they work, so my mom told me to take advantage of the opportunity and I started participating.”

“Then, I learned about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and submitted a video. There were participants from all over the world, so I never imagined that I would qualify, that I would win an award. We were invited to the United Nations in New York for the award ceremony,” she shares.

After her first participation in sixth grade, Ana Victoria kept moving up through the categories and establishing herself in the contest.

“I think that it’s important for people to realize what’s happening and for children like us to be able to do something about it.”

“The following year, I won and then I was invited to be part of the award ceremony, the forum, and a talk with the director of education at the UN.”

“Every year I went up a level,” she says.

This year, in addition to winning second place in the contest, Ana participated with her brothers in another short film about sustainable housing construction in Valle de Bravo, which won first place.

“Documenting the entire process of how people build their own houses from scratch was impressive.”

“It was part of a volunteer program; we wanted to participate, and it was an incredible experience to be in the middle of nowhere trying to adapt to the lifestyle of these people,” she says.

Changing the world one SDG at a time

Ana Victoria highlights the importance of promoting and learning about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as she believes that they are the key to creating a fairer society.

“We all have to start making changes. As hardly anyone knows about the SDGs, teaching them should be part of current basic education to at least know what they are and what they’re for.”

“I think that if we all knew about the SDGs, we would know where to start, so that we would have a better world by 2030,” she says.

This student also believes that commitment to the SDGs must start from education and be complemented with initiatives for young people such as this contest.

“The main goal is for schools to promote the SDGs and I recommend that they participate in these contests so that they become aware of what is happening.”

“I suggest watching the short films to learn more about the contest and also see the benefit, we know that these are small actions, but the world could be a better place by 2030.”

“I really like to help and wherever it is, as long as I am helping, I’m happy. I’m proud that I can represent the Tec and honor its name whilst doing this.”

Finally, Ana Victoria says that her future plans include her continuing to collaborate with the UN and compete at the festival in future years.

“I’d like to join the UN, but not as a job, more as a volunteer because I believe that if you really like doing something you don’t need anything in return.

“I really like to help and wherever it is, as long as I’m helping, I’m happy. I’m proud to represent the Tec and honor its name whilst doing this,” she concluded.

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