Listening

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Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a neighborhood
    • ex. The children in the neighborhood play together at the park every afternoon.
  2. tropical
    • ex. Many tourists visit tropical places for their warm weather and beautiful beaches.
  3. a tribute
    • ex. At the concert, the band played a song as a tribute to the elderly singer.
  4. destruction
    • ex. Cutting down trees can lead to the destruction of forests.
  5. revolve around (someone/something)
    • ex. The couple’s life revolved around their children. They always think about their health and safety.

Article

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In Peru’s Amazon region, a poor neighborhood called Belén celebrated the Muyuna Floating Film Festival. The 10-day festival showed movies from countries with tropical forests, such as Thailand and Brazil. “The festival aims to be a tribute to the jungles of the world and its people,” said Daniel Martínez-Quintanilla, the festival director. He believes learning about the forests and their people is the solution to the problems of forest destruction.

This festival is unique because of the neighborhood’s location. Life in the community of Belén revolves around water. Because of regular floods from rain, houses are built above water. Families use boats to move around. And children sometimes use big plastic containers as their boats. The members of the festival set the screen on a tall wooden structure above water, which allowed people to watch movies from their boats or homes.

Many of those who attended had never seen a movie in a theater before, which makes the Muyuna Floating Film Festival special. One of those is Jorge Chilicahua, a 60-year-old farmer. He expressed his excitement about experiencing new things in their community for the first time.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Muyuna Floating Film Festival

  • Daniel Martínez-Quintanilla said that the festival aims to be a tribute to the world's forests and their people. Do you think a film festival is a good way to do that? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Martínez-Quintanilla believes that learning about the forests is the solution to the problems of forest destruction. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • The festival was held in Belén, a poor neighborhood where the people’s life revolves around water. Imagine that you are organizing a similar festival in your country. Where would you hold the festival? Discuss.

Film Festival

  • What do you think is the purpose of a film festival (ex. to promote good causes, to appreciate movies)? Discuss.
  • The Muyuna Floating Film Festival is a special event that aims to pay tribute to the world’s forests and their people. What other festivals could be done to pay tribute to the world’s forests? Discuss.
  • Are you interested in attending a film festival? Why or why not? Discuss.