Moderator: Kirsten Weld, Professor of History, Harvard University
During the early 1970s, hundreds of peasants in a remote region of El Salvador began to emulate the early Christians, working the land together and building communities based on solidarity. By the late 1970s, thousands of peasants in northern Morazán organized to resist National Guard repression which often involved torture and executions. In 1980s, the military engaged in scorched earth operations against their villages, inaugurating a 12-year civil war. La Palabra en el Bosque (The Word in the Woods) tells their stories. At the end of the film the protagonists reflect upon their struggles in the light of current reality. La Palabra en el Bosque was nominated for Outstanding Documentary at the Queens World Film Festival and was selected at the Ciné de las Américas Film Festival, Ethnografilm (Paris), and LASA.