Runa Simi

Fernando is a voice artist from the Peruvian Andes who is also an Indigenous activist, painter, and devoted single father to his eight-year-old son. Known for his uncanny ability to voice multiple characters, Fernando launched the viral sensation Quechua Clips, where he dubs iconic animated scenes in the endangered language Quechua. Quechua is the ancestral language of the Incas, also known as the Runa Simi, and is the largest Indigenous dialect spoken in South America. Fueled by this groundswell of support, Fernando sets his sights on an ambitious and quixotic dream: to dub Disney’s 1994 classic The Lion King in Quechua with the help of his energetic son. Despite the setbacks and rejections that Fernando encounters, the film is a heartwarming and stirring portrait of resilience, creativity, and cultural pride. Runa Simi shows how meaningful it is to transform a language of the oppressed into a language of power. In Quechua, Spanish, and English with English subtitles. (81 mins., DCP)

Runa Simi premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Best New Documentary Director Prize. It has recently begun its festival circuit, including at the respected Sheffield Film Fest where it won the Youth Jury Prize.

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IMAGE CAPTION
Runa Simi, courtesy of the filmmakers.