Mother Tongue

Mother Tongue chronicles filmmaker Gabina Funegra’s search for her Indigenous roots through the story of Quechua - the Inca language. The masterwork comprises four documentaries. The first piece draws on a personal journey through the place of her mother’s Indigenous origins. Along with her daughter Erika, they travel to a remote village in search of their mother’s language and find local Indigenous communities are letting the Quechua language fade away. As a result of these findings, Gabina decides to delve deeper into the story of Quechua, and explore strategies for the
promotion and rehabilitation of the Quechua language in a globalised
world. The oppression of minority languages is a recurring theme,
resulting in loss of cultural and linguistic diversity.

Gabina uses participatory visual ethnography to explore the state of
Quechua worldwide, as well as strategies for its revival and
maintenance. Quechua now is being promoted in some of the greatest cities of
the world, including Cusco, Paris, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New
York. Mother Tongue shines a light on the fight to maintain linguistic diversity and its benefits to humankind.

Learn more about the film and its impact at international film festivals.

Dr Gabina Funegra is a UNSW Alumna, who completed her PhD in the School of Humanities and Languages in 2017. As a Peruvian whose knowledge of the Quechua language and heritage was blocked by well-meaning parents who saw Spanish as the road to success, Gabina embodies the intergenerational problem in her research. Gabina’s filmmaking projects are intimately tied to her ongoing research in theory, method and practice. Her work invites Quechua speaking teachers, artists, media practitioners and institutions to become allies in her objective: the promotion of Quechua as an attractive, interesting and vital language for future generations.

Join Dr Gabina Funegra in conversation on Tuesday 26 October at 6:30pm:  Register here