In the Middle of the Labyrinth

Ismael, who dreams of becoming a filmmaker, returns back home to Trujillo, a peripheral city in Peru, after studying film in Switzerland. He’s faced with changes in his city and his family, and with the difficulties of making a living in his field. This voyage in between continents will become an interior journey of self discovery. Could this immense sea be the border between Ismael and his dreams?

Mel is a photographer who preferably takes pictures of trees, used hotel rooms after sexual encounters and the streets of her hometown Trujillo. After her mother dies, she learns about a large debt she has left her. In an exhibition about her city, which she has organized with some colleagues, her picture catches the attention of a woman whom Mel has already come across in her photographic expeditions on the streets. They develop a special connection while accompanying each other through their days, wandering in a black and white Trujillo.

“If I can no longer fight, will you?” Filmed and co-directed by Soraida, this intimate portrait spans the everyday life and activism of Soraida Chindoy, following her journey as an Inga leader defending her community’s sacred mountains from a Canadian mining company in Colombia. Balancing motherhood with community organizing, Soraida's daily life as an Inga woman and land defender is shaped by resilience, responsibility, and an unwavering commitment to her people and territory. As environmental threats intensify, her demands become more urgent — and her disappointment with the international community more profound. ‘Kaugsankamalla: As long as we live’ offers a deeply personal and politically resonant portrait of Indigenous resistance in the face of ecological and cultural loss. Through Soraida’s voice, her images, and her embodied wisdom, we are offered a window into the lived experience of fighting for a future — not just for one community, but for the planet we all share.