The politics of filmmaking: Researching postwar memory in Peru

This chapter delves into the politics of documentary filmmaking. More specifically, it examines how an analysis of the circumstances and conditions of image and sound recording can contribute to research. In post-conflict Peru, the presence of the camera often holds various and conflicting meanings that are expressive of the socio-political dynamics of a memory landscape that continues to polarise the country. Drawing on examples from the author’s documentary film Between Memories, the chapter explores memory-making on the fringes of public discourses. The author’s collaborative work with political insurgents in prison, influenced by the strict rules and regulations of the carceral institution, sheds light on the stories of silenced and ‘placeless’ memories in Peru. The chapter argues that in politically contentious fields, the possibilities and limitations of storytelling are as crucial to theory-making as the stories themselves.