A dance on a New York subway, a processional in a small Peruvian town’s Fiesta Patronal and an elaborate Carnival parade are just some of the scenes that Penn Alumni Film Festival guests were treated to this weekend.
Alumni and students alike came together this Saturday in a full room in the Arts, Research and Culture House for a screening of 1980 Wharton graduate Mitch Teplitsky’s documentary, Soy Andina.
The film follows two women as they journey to Peru in search of their own identity and an understanding of traditional dance. It opens with Cynthia Paniagua, a hip-hop dancer raised in Queens who receives a Fulbright scholarship to study dance in Peru, her mother’s home country. Her traversal of the country takes her everywhere from dance studios in the bustling city of Lima to a marinera dance competition in the city of Trujillo. Meanwhile, Nelida Silva, born in Peru but living in New York, returns to her hometown to host the Fiesta Patronal celebration.
Many of the attendees expressed a sense of personal connection with the struggles of the two women.
“I could relate to how Cynthia felt going back to her country and feeling like an outsider. She feels like an outsider to her own people, and it hurts,” said event co-sponsor Sasha Lagombra, a Wharton junior and member of the Latina-interest sorority Sigma Lambda Upsilon.
Others commented on the universality of the themes, with Lagombra adding that “the aspects touched upon during this film can transcend so many topics. Even if you don’t identify with Latino culture, it goes back to going back to roots.”
The event is in recognition of the “huge community of people interested in coming back to Philadelphia for arts and culture,” said Nancy Novack, co-curator of the film festival and 1987 College graduate. In an effort to reach this community, the event was sponsored by five different organizations, including the Association of Latino Alumni and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Penn.
Co-curator and 1986 School of Arts and Sciences graduate David Novack felt that the festival in general “incorporates different groups … across the diverse spectrum of the Penn community.”
Overall, most attendees were pleased with the screening. Vanessa Iyua, 2011 School of Social Policy and Practice graduate and former co-graduate chair of Natives at Penn said, “It was a good event … I hope more events like this happen at Penn.”
