Artist of Resistance

Can a village heal after the massacre of its children? A Berkeley artist journeys into the jungle of El Salvador to battle repression and obliteration with the life-affirming act of creating art. Claudia Bernardi, an internationally known artist who works in the fields of human rights and social justice, takes a journey into the guerrilla territory of El Salvador. There she joins the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team to participate in the excavation of a mass grave. Their mission is to record the truth: was it a battle between two armies, or a massacre? Rufina Amaya Marquez, mother of four and the only survivor of the massacre, insisted on justice until the United Nations Truth Commission finally ordered this investigation. The excavation begins. Slowly they uncover the bones of 131 children whose average age is 6 years old. Clearly these are not guerilla soldiers. The case is closed. But the El Salvadorian government provides amnesty for those responsible. Filled with rage, Claudia returns to Berkeley. She interprets this reality through a series of prints. She then returns to El Salvador armed with paints and brushes to paint murals with the children who had inherited this atrocity. Out of this experience emerges the role of the artist as activist. The soldiers were ordered to destroy, but Claudia and her band of small muralists create. Claudia Bernardi's own art is stunning. It is animated in moving layers throughout the film and creates a powerful global statement against violence.