Tuesday, February 24, 2026
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST
February 24, 2026
Documentary Film Screening: Runa Simi and the Quest to Dub “The Lion King” into Quechua
Event Series: Spotlight on the Americas
The Georgetown Americas Institute is pleased to host a screening of the documentary film Runa Simi, followed by a conversation with the film’s director and its protagonists—a father and son whose journey drives the film’s narrative. Runa Simi chronicles the effort of a Peruvian teacher and his young son to translate and dub The Lion King into Quechua. Motivated by a desire to keep their ancestral language alive and meaningful for younger generations, they embark on a years-long campaign to adapt one of the world’s most recognizable stories. Blending humor, persistence, and deeply personal stakes, the film follows their attempts to secure authorization, assemble collaborators, and navigate institutions that rarely accommodate Indigenous languages. In doing so, Runa Simi raises broader questions about cultural recognition, linguistic inequality, and the role of global popular culture in either marginalizing or revitalizing communities.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the director and main protagonists moderated by Tess Renker, assistant professor in the Spanish and Portuguese Department.
This event is co-sponsored by the Georgetown Americas Institute and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
This event will be held in Spanish only.
Featuring
Tess Renker is an assistant professor of Latin American literature and cultural studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary literature and cinema of the Andes and Greater Mexico, with an emphasis on issues of migration, political violence, race, and indigeneity. Her scholarship has appeared in venues like Revista Hispánica Moderna, Hispanic Review, and MLN, and in 2025 she was awarded an Early Career Award by the Latin American Studies Association for her work in film studies. She is currently finishing her first book, entitled Memory Labor: Indigeneity, Literature, and the Unequal Work of Remembering.
Dylan Alejandro Valencia Cordova was born in Cusco on February 25, 2011. He grew up in the Luis Vallejos Santoni neighborhood and studied at the Initial Education Institution #444 in the neighborhood of the same name. Later, he enrolled at the prestigious Humberto Luna Educational Institution in Cusco, where he is currently in his fourth year of secondary school. From a young age, Dylan was surrounded by home video cameras, editing software, and makeshift game consoles. This led him, with his father's guidance, to venture into having Dylan voice children's characters in a dubbing project that, among other things, aimed to dub The Lion King into Quechua. In 2021, he performed his first official dubbing role with a full character, voicing "Tato" in the Quechua dub of the animated series Garden City. He has also participated in the Quechua dubbing of Connected, the Last Chance for the Adventist Church. He starred in the Peruvian documentary Runa Simi. Alongside his regular studies, Dylan is part of CINEMAR5.1, the Valencia family's new studio, where he participates in various Quechua dubbing projects. He currently lives with his father and accompanies and guides him on every adventure they have.
Fernando Valencia Saire was born in Cusco in 1989 and grew up involved in rural education and public administration in the province of Paruro. Although he began his career as a painter and designer after studying at the Diego Quispe Tito School of Fine Arts, his path took a significant turn toward audiovisual communication and linguistic activism. His cultural impact took off in 2016 with the creation of Quechua Clips. Throughout his career, Fernando has diversified his work: he founded Yaw Runa Simi Studios (the first dubbing studio for Indigenous languages in Peru), directed the dubbing of films such as Wiñaypacha, and participated in musical projects with his group Los Malqos. He has also worked as a consultant for public and private institutions, adapting educational and advertising content into Quechua. Recently, his personal story and his relationship with his son Dylan were featured in the documentary Runa Simi, directed by Augusto Zegarra. In 2025, this work achieved international recognition at festivals such as Tribeca, Sheffield, Guadalajara, Biarritz, and Palm Springs, among others. Named a Favorite Son of Paruro, Fernando continues working from his studio with the goal of formalizing a dubbing industry that promotes true linguistic inclusion in Peru.
Augusto Zegarra is a Peruvian filmmaker based in Lima and a graduate in Film and Media Arts from the University of Utah. He is the director of the feature-length documentary Runa Simi, a work that addresses themes of identity, linguistic discrimination, and the revitalization of Quechua. The film had its world premiere in New York in 2025 at the Tribeca Film Festival, becoming the first Peruvian documentary to compete there. It has won the Albert Maysles Award for Best New Documentary Director at the Tribeca Film Festival; Jury Prizes in Palm Springs, Sheffield, and DocsMX; and Audience Awards in Biarritz and the Lima Film Festival, among other awards at international and national festivals. The film has received support from the Sundance Institute, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, ChileConecta, the University of Guadalajara, the Swiss Embassy in Peru, and others.