Films A-Z
The Jungle Radio
Das Dschungelradio
Susanne Jaeger / Germany / 2009 / 90 min.
Whereas radio enjoyed its golden age between the Wars in the USA and in the middle of the 20th century in Europe, the medium is only now beginning to flourish in the Nicaraguan jungle. Yamileth Chavarria set up the Palabra de mujer (Women's Voices) radio station after the devastating Hurricane Mitch in 1998. This catastrophe cut a number of jungle villages off from the outside world. It destroyed bridges and disrupted telephone communications. Yamileth's radio station enabled people to tell those close to them that they were alright, that they had given birth to a son or that their grandmother was ill. The radio, however, is more than just a substitute telephone for local people. Yamileth and her colleagues' main aim is to draw attention to domestic violence against women and children. This is a very frequent and neglected problem, which the local courts turn a blind eye to. This impressive film by German director Susanne Jäger tells the story of a woman who fights to improve the status of women around her in spite of being threatened for doing so.
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