Ernesto Cabellos a 39 year-old filmmaker from Peru, received a US $5,000 award for his project entitled “Operacion Diablo” (Operation Devil)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Father Marco Arana, a humble parish priest in the mountains of Peru, is being followed. A private surveillance firm has been hired to video-tape and photograph the priest’s every move; their meticulous reports are code-named “The Operation Devil.” We follow Father Marco through a paper trail of political suspense and mystery that leads us to South America’s largest gold mine. For the past decade, the priest and his band of eco-activists have been helping farming communities in claims against the mine, earning the priest the nickname “The Devil.” Peru is one of the world’s top gold producers and the state has ceded power to transnational corporations who guard their territory like outlaws in the Wild West. “The Devil Operation” exposes the new wave of persecution faced by Latin America’s social leaders and human rights defenders