Filmmaker Statement

During the anti-government protests in 2017, we had the idea of dismantling the myth that the protesters, especially those killed, were "guarimberos", a derogative word used by the government that dehumanized them in the face of the military and state police. In telling Miguel’s story, we wanted to show that behind each victim there was a human being, with a family, with dreams, with a future… and a legitimate right to protest. That message was very important so we could stir empathy, not only with regular citizens but with the same soldiers who were on the street every day, controlling the protests. That's why the video is called fifty, not in numbers, but in letters, as a word, as a name. The final result had a great impact, quickly becoming viral, having more than 600 thousand views on different platforms. People connected emotionally with Miguel's story, especially in the context in which the film was released, during the month of July 2017, the climax of the protests.