A Remarkable Filmmaker: Pamela Yates
By Sara Alvarez
March, 2006

We are endlessly reminded of human rights violations that occur around the world, but few are able to capture the core and the struggles as Pamela Yates has in her award-winning documentaries. She was brought to my attention a couple of years ago by one of para mi's co-founders, who invited me to attend a 20 year anniversary screening for the re-release of the 1983 documentary, When the Mountains Tremble – a film about war and social revolution in Guatemala. Upon seeing the film, I immediately knew that it was important to feature this remarkable filmmaker and the work that she and her production company, Skylight Pictures, are doing to inspire the acknowledgement of the absence of human rights in Latin America.

The Beginning
Pamela Yates was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania. At the age of 15 she ran away from home, came to New York City and worked as a photojournalist before becoming a filmmaker. While working in a small New England newspaper as a photographer, she learned that there was an influx of Puerto Rican immigrants near the Connecticut River Valley, however, no one on the newspaper spoke Spanish, so she decided to go to Mexico for two months to learn, and ended up staying for two years. While in Central America she worked with other filmmakers as a sound engineer on feature films and commercials. (Pamela later attended New York University where she received her degree in filmmaking.)

Central America
While in Central America, Pamela began to hear about an Indian uprising hidden in the highlands of Guatemala. It was a conflict not being covered by the news media, and such attempts had been met tragically with deaths of Guatemalan journalists or barring of foreign journalists from entering into the country. Pamela wanted to find out what was happening, but she knew that the Guatemalan military was hostile toward the press. However, in 1982, as a result of economic and military aid being cut off, the Guatemalan government decided to hold a pre-open presidential election in order for the country to be perceived as “a democracy” so that aid packages would be reinstated. Meaning that the government would need to give the international press corp. access into their country if they were to be considered a democratic, free and open society; and this was how Pamela and her cameraman, Thomas Sigel, managed to get into Guatemala, along with the rest of the press.

When the Mountains Tremble
Of course investigating the conflict and going into the highlands was not going to be an easy endeavor. No one wanted to speak to Pamela because everyone was simply afraid to speak out. The terror on the part of the state was so great that the current military death squads were offering impunity to those who kept quiet – making it pretty difficult to get people to open up. Pamela thought she was going to fail in her project. She would approach people in the shantytowns, but they would slam the door in her face. She would try to speak to the military, but they would threaten her. She went as far as sending notes to the guerillas without ever knowing if they ever read them. Consequently, she came up with another plan: she decided to go to the Air Force base in Guatemala City every morning, where the helicopters departed to the highlands, and acquainted herself with the soldiers there. After they became comfortable with Pamela, she was introduced to their sergeant, who in turn introduced her to their superior; until she was finally introduced to “El Mero Macho”, the head of the Guatemalan Air Force. General Benito Lucas García granted the young Pamela an interview and it was during their conversation that Pamela earned the General's trust and she convinced him to take her on a helicopter mission to the Northern part of Guatemala.

As they were flying over the region, the helicopter was shot down. All the windows exploded and the helicopter was heading straight to the ground. Luckily the pilot was able to restart the rear-rooter, which had been hit, and make an emergency landing at a nearby military base. After the incident, the military saw Pamela, now 29, and her filming partner as veterans and carte blanche was granted to them. They had access to the military base in the capital and were allowed to film anything they wanted, including the war room. In the war room, Pamela learned about the military's sporadic policy, “If we have to kill ten Indios to get one guerilla, well we are going to do it.” It was then and there that Pamela found the catalyst for When the Mountains Tremble – the absence of human rights in Central America.

The civilian population, consisting largely of Indian peasants who were politically active and trying to make progressive change in the government, were seen as guerillas and were either forced to go underground or escape to the mountains. This usually occurred to those living in the shantytowns of Guatemala City, where community leaders were trying to improve the lives of its residents. However, some of the community leaders were killed by the repressive military dictatorship, which led to a more radical position from the otherwise peaceful civilian population.

While making this film, Pamela identified herself with the Indian guerillas. For many years, the Indians wanted to be part of the mainstream society, however, they were discriminated against. They fought a very brutal and greedy dictatorship to be accepted. Although the Indians did not win this battle, there was a positive outcome - it played an important role in creating a better resolution for Guatemala.

Pamela saw her role as a bridge between what was really going on in Central America and the American people, especially, the policy making U.S. government. For this reason, Pamela thought it was important to do this film and other films on Latin America and show them in the United States, as well as the world.

One of Pamela's highlights in making this extraordinary film was meeting and working with Indigenous rights spokesperson and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Pamela met her in 1982 when Ms. Menchu Tum came to address the United Nations General Assembly. Pamela and her co-producers thought it would make for an interesting and compelling narrative approach to have Rigoberta Menchu tell her story in parallel to the contemporary events happening in Guatemala. Ms. Menchu´s painful and brave testimony helps to illuminate an understanding of why a peaceful group of people can rise up against an oppressive government. It is through her voice and life that the documentary is taken to another level beyond telling the facts, but revealing the real-life human truths of what is hidden beyond the surface of a war story.

A Remarkable Filmmaker
As a filmmaker Pamela Yates is always keeping her eyes and ears open to what's up and coming. The stories that are making headlines now don't interest her; she is interested in who or what is going to be important in the future. She's interested in voices that are not being heard, in stories where people are being discriminated against, in political trends, in transitional, global or criminal injustice and human rights. Her goal is to get people to take notice and question these trends that will eventually lead to important stories.

When I met with Pamela Yates almost a year and half ago, she was in the midst of wrapping up “State of Fear,” which has since made its debut last year, and has so far won numerous awards. The film, based in Peru, serves as a cautionary tale concerning the global war on terror, narrating the uprising of the Shining Path, a terrorist group, and the terrorist war against the Peruvian Army. The Truth Commission, which ensued from this war, allowed the world to become aware of the harsh violence that had engulfed Peru for twenty years.

Pamela not only makes films about Latin America, but she has also made films about many of the problems in the United States. Between her various film and public television productions, during the 1990s she filmed a trilogy, Living Broke in the Boom Times , about the homeless epidemic racing through our own country. Her work has won both Emmy and Academy Awards, and has uncovered hard realities and inspired justice and change. A sequel to When the Mountains Tremble is also in the works.

Pamela Yates´ affinity for Latin America, her beautifully poignant and bold works that brings about awareness and fuel transformation, makes it an honor for us to feature this remarkable woman and filmmaker to the para mi audience.

To learn more about Pamela Yates and her production company, Skylight Pictures, visit her website, www.skylightpictures.com .