In all her films, Tatiana Huezo draws attention to the deep-rooted violence in society in El Salvador and Mexico, her two homelands, by giving a voice to the people who are its victims. In Ver, oír y callar, this is an anonymous school student in El Salvador. She describes how her life has been turned upside down by the death of her father. He was killed by gang violence, and ever since her thoughts have been dominated by anger and fear.
Huezo films the girl in a way that conceals her identity, because she is at risk herself. And she is not the only one: when students at the school are given the opportunity to talk about what they are afraid of, they mention threats, abuse, and rape. With gangs leaving threats for students on the blackboard or in their notebooks, the law of the street has clearly reached the classroom.
Students band together for protection, and carry knives for protection. Perhaps the most important lesson they learn at school is to “see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.” Huezo made this short film as part of the omnibus film El aula vacía about school dropouts in Latin America.
Stills
