People to Watch

Stephanie Boyd | Humble Thorn

By Stephen Ullstrom | November 18, 2010

"Living in Africa was a turning point in my life—my first time leaving the safe 'bubble' of middle-class Canadian society. It made me realize I'd won the lottery of birth and gave me the courage to pursue a less conventional lifestyle than I ever thought possible."
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But the only placement for a human rights journalist offered by the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), now CUSO-VSO, which matches volunteers with global non-profits, was a placement in Peru. Seeing it as a new adventure, Stephanie set off, planning to "carry-out [her] two-year contract with CUSO, learn Spanish and find [her] way back to Africa."

Well, she never returned to Africa, or at least, not yet. Stephanie has spent nearly 14 years embedded in the Peruvian environmental and human rights scene. The environment and its complex connection to human rights issues was not new to her.

It made me realize I'd won the lottery of birth.

Stephanie grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, the headquarters for General Motors Canada and the "birthplace of the New Democratic Party." The city is "fenced in on the east and west by nuclear power plants, a place that would turn anyone onto environmentalism." Her father spent his life dedicated to social justice work in the community, so activism was a natural fit.

Shortly after arriving in Peru, Stephanie encountered "a crazy group of young Peruvian filmmakers . . . who had a lot of talent and ideas but no access to funding." The group's founder, Ernesto Cabellos "was fond of quoting a famous Latin American filmmaker who said that a country without documentaries is like a family without a photo album." Stephanie volunteered with Gurango Cine Y Video (named after a hardy, indigenous, desert-dwelling tree), while still working with CUSO, and stayed in Peru once her CUSO contract finished in order to work on adding "some pages to Peru's album."

Their plan was to film three documentaries "about Peruvian communities embroiled in conflicts with foreign mining companies." Stephanie rejects the idea of objective filmmaking. Rather, her films seek to simultaneously inform and investigate, but from the perspective of the activists and common people seeking their rights. The trilogy was slated to be finished in a year and a half, but ended up taking ten years to complete. The final film, The Devil Operation, is featured at the 2010 Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver, running from November 18 to 21.

Writing about The Devil Operation, Stephanie said that, "being the sole producer was the most difficult part of this project." (She was also the sole director this time, but shared the director's chair with Ernesto Cabellos in the first two films).

Along with making films, Gurango conducts workshops with communities affected by mining in Peru. They teach locals how to advocate for themselves through "short videos, radio reports, blogs and other campaign materials." This is a key aspect of The Devil Operation, as the film hinges on Fr. Marco and others of the GRUFIDES activist group, recently empowered, filming and monitoring the spies sent after them.

A country without documentaries is like a family without a photo album.

This has led to a new company, Quisca (meaning "thorn" in the Inca language), in Cusco (the former Inca capital. This small group brings filmmaking to "one of Peru's most economically-challenged states, [where] the majority of farmers still speak "Quechua," the Inca language," and where people have not had the opportunity to make films.

"Home is where my dog is," declares Stephanie, and right now that continues to be Cusco. Downplaying her role in Peru, I certainly don't feel like a hero for living here"—and pointing out concerns of where one chooses to live, is a very personal matter, Stephanie isn't entirely sure what her future will hold now that the trilogy is complete.
Stephanie Boyd 4 copy.jpg
For now, Stephanie and the other filmmakers are continuing their advocacy and training work, as well as screening The Devil Operation in Peru, which has just been dubbed into Quechua. Stephanie is also in the process of writing a book about her time with Gurango, describing writing as "a nasty habit I can't seem to kick, so I've kept at it over the years." Making another movie isn't ruled out either, provided a story comes along and "grabs [her]."

But while her own future is uncertain, Stephanie has a message to aspiring activists in Canada and abroad: "BEWARE of thinking you can save the world. In order to be effective, activist work needs to come from a more humble perspective. We have to try to understand the world around us, before we can begin thinking about changing it. And we need to listen and learn from local communities—the affected people—rather than come in from a top-down, we're-saving-you perspective."

+ Watch the trailer of The Devil Operation
+ The Devil Operation will be playing this Saturday Nov 20th at 7:15 PM at the Vancity Theatre

PostedNovember 18, 2010 12:00 PM

Stephanie Boyd never planned on being a filmmaker in Peru. Following a B.A. in Literature and African History at the University of Toronto, and a year in Kenya writing about human rights for the Lutheran World Relief, a non-governmental organization, Stephanie was excited to return to Africa.\n\n\"Living in Africa was a turning point in my life—my first time leaving the safe 'bubble' of middle-class Canadian society. It made me realize I'd won the lottery of birth and gave me the courage to pursue a less conventional lifestyle than I ever thought possible.\"\n\nBut the only placement for a human rights journalist offered by the Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO), now CUSO-VSO, which matches volunteers with global non-profits, was a placement in Peru. Seeing it as a new adventure, Stephanie set off, planning to \"carry-out [her] two-year contract with CUSO, learn Spanish and find [her] way back to Africa.\"\n\nWell, she never returned to Africa, or at least, not yet. Stephanie has spent nearly 14 years embedded in the Peruvian environmental and human rights scene. The environment and its complex connection to human rights issues was not new to her.\n\n It made me realize I'd won the lottery of birth.\n
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\nStephanie grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, the headquarters for General Motors Canada and the \"birthplace of the New Democratic Party.\" The city is \"fenced in on the east and west by nuclear power plants, a place that would turn anyone onto environmentalism.\" Her father spent his life dedicated to social justice work in the community, so activism was a natural fit.\n\n\nShortly after arriving in Peru, Stephanie encountered \"a crazy group of young Peruvian filmmakers . . . who had a lot of talent and ideas but no access to funding.\" The group's founder, Ernesto Cabellos \"was fond of quoting a famous Latin American filmmaker who said that a country without documentaries is like a family without a photo album.\" Stephanie volunteered with Gurango Cine Y Video (named after a hardy, indigenous, desert-dwelling tree), while still working with CUSO, and stayed in Peru once her CUSO contract finished in order to work on adding \"some pages to Peru's album.\"\n\nTheir plan was to film three documentaries \"about Peruvian communities embroiled in conflicts with foreign mining companies.\" Stephanie rejects the idea of objective filmmaking. Rather, her films seek to simultaneously inform and investigate, but from the perspective of the activists and common people seeking their rights. The trilogy was slated to be finished in a year and a half, but ended up taking ten years to complete. The final film, The Devil Operation, is featured at the 2010 Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver, running from November 18 to 21.\n\nWriting about The Devil Operation, Stephanie said that, \"being the sole producer was the most difficult part of this project.\" (She was also the sole director this time, but shared the director's chair with Ernesto Cabellos in the first two films). \n\nAlong with making films, Gurango conducts workshops with communities affected by mining in Peru. They teach locals how to advocate for themselves through \"short videos, radio reports, blogs and other campaign materials.\" This is a key aspect of The Devil Operation, as the film hinges on Fr. Marco and others of the GRUFIDES activist group, recently empowered, filming and monitoring the spies sent after them.\n\n A country without documentaries is like a family without a photo album.\n
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\n\nThis has led to a new company, Quisca (meaning \"thorn\" in the Inca language), in Cusco (the former Inca capital. This small group brings filmmaking to \"one of Peru's most economically-challenged states, [where] the majority of farmers still speak \"Quechua,\" the Inca language,\" and where people have not had the opportunity to make films.\n\n\"Home is where my dog is,\" declares Stephanie, and right now that continues to be Cusco. Downplaying her role in Peru, I certainly don't feel like a hero for living here\"—and pointing out concerns of where one chooses to live, is a very personal matter, Stephanie isn't entirely sure what her future will hold now that the trilogy is complete.\n\nFor now, Stephanie and the other filmmakers are continuing their advocacy and training work, as well as screening The Devil Operation in Peru, which has just been dubbed into Quechua. Stephanie is also in the process of writing a book about her time with Gurango, describing writing as \"a nasty habit I can't seem to kick, so I've kept at it over the years.\" Making another movie isn't ruled out either, provided a story comes along and \"grabs [her].\"\n\nBut while her own future is uncertain, Stephanie has a message to aspiring activists in Canada and abroad: \"BEWARE of thinking you can save the world. In order to be effective, activist work needs to come from a more humble perspective. We have to try to understand the world around us, before we can begin thinking about changing it. And we need to listen and learn from local communities—the affected people—rather than come in from a top-down, we're-saving-you perspective.\"\n\n+ Watch the trailer of The Devil Operation\n+ The Devil Operation will be playing this Saturday Nov 20th at 7:15 PM at the Vancity Theatre

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