A Peruvian documentary about one man’s mission to bring Disney’s “The Lion King” to Quechua audiences is coming to New York this week.
“Runa Simi,” the feature directorial debut of Peruvian filmmaker Augusto Zegarra, begins a one-week theatrical engagement Thursday, Aug. 28, at DCTV Firehouse Cinema in Manhattan. The film runs through Sept. 3 and follows Fernando Valencia, a 29-year-old voice artist, Indigenous activist, painter and single father from Cusco.
The documentary earned the Albert Maysles Award for Best Documentary Director at the Tribeca Festival, the Youth Jury Award at Sheffield DocFest and the Ibero-American Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
At the center of the film is Valencia’s effort to expand the reach of Quechua, the ancestral language of the Incas, also known as Runa Simi. Through his viral project Quechua Clips, Valencia began recreating scenes from popular animated films in Quechua, attracting a growing audience eager to see familiar stories represented in their own language.
That response inspired an even bigger goal: dubbing Disney’s 1994 animated classic “The Lion King” into Quechua.
Working with his young son, Dylan, Valencia builds a homemade recording studio and pursues the project despite rejection, setbacks and doubts about whether his ambitious idea can become reality. His journey becomes about more than one film, however, as he advocates for Indigenous language preservation and greater cultural representation.
“Runa Simi” combines that personal journey with a broader examination of language justice, highlighting the importance of ensuring Indigenous languages have a place in contemporary media.
The film, which was nine years in the making, has screened at more than 60 festivals in more than 30 countries and collected 27 awards, including honors at festivals in Palm Springs, Sheffield, Annecy and DocsMX.
Executive producers include Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt, Dominique Bravo, Ellen Schneider, Alpita Patel and Bill and Ruth Ann Harnisch. Claudia Chávez Lévano and Paloma Iturriaga are producers.
The New York engagement will include post-screening Q&As with Zegarra and Valencia, giving audiences an opportunity to hear directly from the filmmaker and the man whose determination drives the story.
“Runa Simi” is presented in Spanish, Quechua and English with English subtitles and has a runtime of 81 minutes.