Interview with Deborah Shaffer, 2014 February 21

Interview conducted in English. Deborah Shaffer, independent filmmaker, discusses her history as a documentarian and discusses the development of three of her films related to the Latin American revolutionary period: Witness to War (El Salvador), Fire from the Mountain (Nicaragua), and Dance of Hope (Chile). Shaffer describes her introduction to documentary filmmaking; the relationships she established with Dr. Charles Clements, an American physician who provided medical aid in El Salvador, and Omar Cabezas, a former Sandinista commander and government minister, as a result of the production of Witness to War and Fire from the Mountain; as well as her experiences travelling in Nicaragua and Chile while filming. This interview was conducted by Kathryn Darnall, a graduate student in Information Studies and Latin American Studies, whose research focuses on archival issues and documentation relating to human rights.