Documentary
Runa Simi is a documentary that follows Fernando Valencia, a Quechua speaker on a mission to dub The Lion King into his native language. His journey becomes a powerful story about identity, cultural pride, and reclaiming a language long pushed to the margins. Here you can explore the film, upcoming screenings, and the impact campaign behind the project.
"Remarkable... Runa Simi brings together self-expression and place."
-Amy Taubin, Film Comment
"Charming, and surprisingly moving."
-Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com
"This has all the inspiration and dream-big attitude of the best Walt Disney Studios catalog, and that is no small feat."
-Bobby Lepire, Film Threat
Festival Route
Audience Award for Best Documentary
Biarritz Latin American Film Festival | 2025
Impact & Support
We believe that safeguarding a language is synonymous with preserving an entire worldview. Our film strives to inspire action towards this cause.
Runa Simi sheds light on the problematic of fundamental access to audiovisual content in Quechua (and endangered indigenous languages globally) as well as other rights denied to indigenous people. Using a powerful, sometimes humorous, love letter to Quechua intergenerational story, we aim to contribute to the movement towards linguistic empowerment.
Press
By PETER SOBCZYNSKI | June 2025
By PAT MULLEN | February 2026
By THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER | December 2025