For young filmmakers, watching films outside the realm of Hollywood, and the United States, is a crucial step for developing a broader understanding of film, and the world itself. International films teach American filmmakers important lessons from outside perspectives. One example of a foreign film that demonstrates the ability to broaden our worldview is Florence Jaugey’s new documentary film Girasoles de Nicaragua (Sunflowers of Nicaragua). Quality international films such as Girasoles are ones able to shape our understanding of film history as a global phenomenon, outside the realm of Hollywood.
In order to begin to understand a film, it is important to first understand the filmmaker(s) behind it. Born in France, Florence Jaugey started her career in film as an actress before settling down in Managua, Nicaragua after working on a film in the Central American country. Jaugey began to work on her own films as a director, even starting Camila Films Production Company with her partner, Frank Pineda, a Nicaraguan filmmaker (Jaugey, pc, 2018). From 1984 to today Jaugey has made several short and full length documentaries, many of which seek to further understand the lives of the poverty-stricken citizens of Nicaragua. Through Camila Films, Jaugey also directed La Yuma (2009), a drama selected to represent Nicaragua in the 83rd Academy Awards. This movie is one of Nicaragua’s most popular films of all time (Girasoles IMDb, 2017). Through her work, it is clear that Jaugey is a legitimate trailblazer, for she is a woman filmmaker with a track record of successful films based in a developing country dating back three decades before female representation in film even truly began to take notice in Hollywood. It is no surprise that Jaugey took interest in making a documentary about sixteen (now eighteen) women trailblazers in Nicaragua; the sex workers who were “named judicial aids by Nicaragua’s Supreme Court to facilitate the resolution of conflicts that come up in their work.”(Girasoles IMDb, 2017) Nicaragua itself is a trailblazer as well, as it is the first country in the world to give sex workers this opportunity.
The entirety of Girasoles follows the trailblazing organization through different aspects of their work. The documentary begins with a radio interview of one of the workers explaining the work they do to a small group of men, who do not seem to fully grasp the entirety of the work the women are doing. They describe themselves as sixteen female sex workers/judicial aides. The film then follows the group to a court meeting which starts with a singing of the national anthem of Nicaragua. It is no coincidence that Jaugey includes the line “for work is thy well earned laurel”, which may be referencing the central idea of the film, that the work of sex workers should be respected and protected by law. The film continues following the judicial facilitators to someone’s house, someone who Girasoles are there to help. The client does not want her face or the inside of her house to be filmed, and Jaugey’s team respects that request, staying back but continuing to record, shielding the woman’s face. In the next scene, Carmen Olivares, one judicial facilitator of Girasoles, gives a speech to a number of government officials. Olivares, after a speech from one official suggesting they find other work, stresses that the work sex workers do is fully by choice, and not forced upon them. All they ask for is security and to work in peace. Later in the film, Olivares states that one sex worker who was beaten went to the police, who did nothing. No one in the conversation seemed shocked by this story, suggesting that indifference from the police in these types of situations happens regularly. It is shown here that some victims of abuse rely solely on Girasoles for safety and support. The following scene shows an HIV Aids awareness march led by Girasoles. María Elena Dávila, Coordinator of the Network of Women Sex Workers of Nicaragua explains that anyone can get HIV Aids, and by raising awareness of the epidemic, they are helping to prevent further cases of sexually transmitted disease. This scene is brilliantly capped off with a wide shot of the marchers going past a statue of The David–a perfect juxtaposition of the public perception of male and female bodies. Up until this point of the film the female sex workers are told what they cannot or morally should not do with their own bodies. Most of the film is spent showing these women fighting for the right to be free with their bodies, so having a shot of a proud, bigger than life, and fully naked man on the side of the road makes the viewer consider the double-standard of female and male body image. Personally, it made me think about what the situation would be if the sex workers in the film were men, and were abused by women. The idea alone is hard to imagine, but perhaps these men would be more likely to receive assistance from police and government officials. The next portion of the film shows one Girasoles worker, Yami, facilitating several clients who come in seeking mediation. One man was attacked by a drunk man with a machete, and seeks the equivalent to $35. The attacker did harm to his own body as well and cannot pay due to his inability to work, but an agrees to pay once his body is healed. A family comes in seeking mediation with their son, who far to frequently comes home drunk and causes serious trouble with his own son.Yami tells the young man to respect the people he lives with and if he has been drinking, do not go home. In a third case two men seek mediation after they have problems with money, stealing, and harming reputations. Yami handles all of these cases professionally and effectively, despite not having a formal education. Each case ends with an agreement and signatures. This portion of the documentary is done very well, and at times one may forget that Juagey’s team is in the room filming, since everything feels so natural and up-close, like we are sitting in the room with them. It feels so natural that Jaugey even goes as far to include roughly 20 seconds of one client being interrupted by his cell phone–something that would be cut from any documentary that I have ever seen. From interviews with sex workers, we learn why they choose their work, and why they do not choose to do something else. Twice in the film we hear a vendedora (saleswoman) yelling “Tortillas! Tortillas!” This added detail could possibly be to show that while sex workers in the film say they choose to be sex workers and do not want to change their career, they do not have much else to go to. It is worth considering that sex workers in Nicaragua do not entirely choose to be sex workers because it is what they grew up wanting to be, or find their passion in, but rather that it is simply the best option for them in Nicaragua’s poverty-stricken economy–better than selling tortillas all day on the street. In interviews of different parts of the film, sex workers discuss the difficulty of telling their family, especially their children, what they do for a living, suggesting their choices may not entirely out of free will, no matter how much they say it is. Nearing the end of the film we are shown one of the sex worker forums that Girasoles facilities, in which they aim to educate women on sexually transmitted disease, their rights as people and freelance workers, and general safety. One worker says in an interview that because of these workshops and the community it provides, she has stopped drinking, become more educated, and has radically changed her life for the better. The film ends with a long shot of the door with a conversation presumably happening on the other side. A woman is describing how she was abused, beat, and made to do sit-ups by an abuser. Carmen Olivares responds saying “We’ll help you as much as you want” adding “we are human beings, even if we are sex workers.” By ending on this line, Jaugey does not hide on which way she leans on this controversial topic. She is in full support of her fellow trailblazers for the work they do helping others. Jaugey does a great job convincing the viewer to feel the same way.
In an interview, Jaugey describes her process and experience making her film. She says “Me interesa el tema y quiero hablar con ellas.” She heard about the organization; she was curious; so she talked with them and after receiving funding, made a documentary about the organization. I believe this is an important lesson in itself, as many eager American filmmakers may get caught up in landing a production job in the most popular film hub in the world, Hollywood, rather than letting their curiosity run wild learning more about a topic and sharing it truthfully and artistically with the world. Hollywood would not describe Girasoles as a “sexy” film; it is shot on the street, in houses, in offices; the interviews are not set up with high-end lighting equipment on a professional sound stage, there’s no score, voice overs, fancy graphics or animations. And there does not need to be. In fact, if there were, it would not be the same film. Jaugey thrives in making her participants look, act, and feel natural, despite being filmed. The reality does not ever feel constructed or artificial. In the interview Jaugey describes how at first her participants did not know exactly how to act on camera, but they quickly reverted to being themselves after Jaugey suggested they just be themselves as if she was not there. If her participants were uncomfortable, if Jaugey decided to script scenes to get her narrative across more efficiently, if she had asked her participants to be anything but themselves, this film would not have worked.
As filmmakers, and human beings, watching films from Latin America is important. In general, watching films outside of Hollywood is the equivalent of receiving news outside of a single source. At the end of the day, Hollywood is a business and will make films that profit. The Hollywood Industrial Complex is a perfect example of why watching films from different nations is essential to understand film history as a global phenomenon. The Hollywood Industrial Complex is the idea that Hollywood “produces deceptive cultural products” that support the “government’s imperialist agenda.” For example, glorifying war in a film to lure the public to support what the government wants us to think (Tabibian, 2017). By watching films such as Girasoles, we escape the realm of Hollywood potentially being brainwashed by American government tactics.
In my Latin American Film class Florence Jaugey was generous enough to come and visit to share her experience in making the film. She was in Seattle for the Seattle Latino Film Festival, where Girasoles was being presented. Film festivals is where Jaugey’s work, and other international documentaries thrive the most. Through this form of distribution, Camila Films does not need to go through Hollywood or pass through producers or get picked up by big budget production companies. This form of distribution is not the mainstream way of distribution; one that Hollywood is not interested in. Despite this, film festivals are essential for allowing truthful and honest films that do not rely on money from large companies, or even the government. It is incredibly important for filmmakers and film lovers alike to support film festivals and other alternate forms of film distribution, so that we can continue to see film, and film history, as a global phenomenon.