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Lantéc Chaná

View on the Pragda STREAM site

Lantéc Chaná centers on Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime, a 71-year-old retired resident of Entre Ríos Province, Argentina, who emerged as the sole surviving speaker of Chaná, a language scholars had classified as extinct since 1815.

The film chronicles the collaboration between Jaime and Pedro Viegas Barros, a distinguished linguist specializing in indigenous South American languages, who validated Jaime's linguistic knowledge and heritage. Through rigorous analysis, Viegas Barros's research led to UNESCO's formal recognition of Chaná as a living but "extremely endangered" language, with Jaime acknowledged as its last native speaker.

The documentary captures the cultural implications of this resurrection, with themes of indigenous identity, cultural preservation, and the role of individual memory in collective heritage. The film traces the work to document and preserve the language and cultural practices, creating a comprehensive record to prevent the disappearance of this legacy.

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