A Paraguayan short film called Mita’i Churi (Naughty Boy in Guaraní, Paraguay’s second official language) recently premiered on YouTube. This short film depicts a chapter of the War of the Triple Alliance, the battle of “Acosta Ñu”. The work was inspired by the homonymous story by the Argentinian writer Alejandro Rodrígues.
The film has participated in and won awards in more than 20 international and national festivals. The winner of the Entre Fronteras 2022 Contest is a co-production between Paraguayan Zet Studios and Argentinian 25.27 Estudio.
Paraguayan animation on the rise
“Paraguay has a unique potential to tell stories of its own that resound in the world. Animation is one of the best channels for people from all around the world to connect with our Paraguayan culture,” says general producer Mathias Maciel. “Mita’i Churi shows the potential of our story, with huge universal topics, like the right to a peaceful childhood.”
In the context of the Triple Alliance War, Mita’i Churi starts with a group of children swimming and playing in a river peacefully. Since the army is losing too many men, children are being sent to go into the lines. People chant and feel captivated by this act, promising them glory. That is how they experience the horrors of war themselves.
This short film ran through 15 European and South American Cinema festivals and recently triumphed in the international contest of human rights, in the Tesalonica’s animation festival. In Paraguay, the film premiered on the 2025 edition of the International Festival of Environmental Cinema and Human Rights.
The whole team is composed of Elian Guerin, Mathias Maciel, Andres Tés, Maco Pacheco, Felipe Giménez, Jazmín Santacruz, Fran Villalba, and Burbuja Abián. To watch the short film, check Mita’i Churi on Youtube.
Know more about Zet Studios
Zet Studios is an animation and comics studio run by Nicolás Cantero and Mathias Maciel. Both are from Encarnacion and seek to tell the stories about Paraguay through animation and the ninth art.
Zet Studios was born 10 years ago and since then some of the projects they released are “No Estan Solos”, a mini series of 3 episodes that seeks to conscientise about deforestation in the Chaco and its consequences in the environment; “Leyenda Viva”, which follows the daily life of Pombero (a type of dwarf from Paraguayan culture) and “La Pelota”, a short film that is about a group of friends playing football.
For more information, check Zet Studios on Facebook.
