The cinema in waiting time: Hamaca paraguaya (2006) and Eami (2022) by Paz Encina

Abstract

Hamaca paraguaya (2006) and Eami (2022) are two of the most relevant cinematographic works of the Paraguayan director Paz Encina and of the recent cinema of her country in the Guarani and Ayoreo languages. The productions are rich in images and sounds, with prevailing off-screen dialogues and fixed shots. Our objective is to analyze the theme of waiting as a fertile area of artistic production, prone to multiple interpretations, conjectures, silences. The review we propose does not disregard the worldview of the Ayoreo people where the “western” segmentation into past, present and future would be blurred to the detriment of a persistence that dialogues diametrically with the concept of “waiting”. Thus, the hypothesis we propose is that the topic of waiting functions in Encina's films as a door that promotes a critique of the past, a present of uncertainty and a multifaceted future.