Runa Simi

Can language serve as a bridge between generations? Can the passion of one family help save an endangered culture? In the Andes, Fernando Valenci – a Peruvian voice actor, radio host, and activist from Cusco – along with his young son Dylan, takes on the extraordinary task of dubbing the iconic animation “The Lion King” into Quechua (Runa Simi), also known as the language of the Incas. What seems like a simple project becomes a symbolic act of cultural resistance, prompting reflection on the role of tradition in a world that increasingly forgets its roots. Filmed over nine years, the documentary shows that language is not merely a tool of communication but a living thread of identity and social memory. In the face of globalization and fading traditions, can one of South America’s oldest indigenous languages, which has survived centuries and still thrives in everyday conversation, be preserved? Can a single family project inspire an entire community? Fernando and Dylan travel through local communities, meet Quechua language masters, musicians, and cultural animators, showing how art and language intertwine with the lived experience of contemporary indigenous communities.