It has only been four months since the film Ñuñuyachiy: Breastfeeding with affection and care (orig. Ñuñuyachiy: Amamantar con afecto y cariño) was released and it has not stopped winning awards all over the world. "We didn't expect so much recognition, we are on our way to a hundred awards", explains Jose M. Soriano, full-time university professor at the Universitat de València and executive producer of the documentary.

This documentary recounts the experiences of the people who made the first human milk bank in Peru possible, which has benefitted thousands of premature babies since 2010. The film is the result of a project led by Professor Jose M. Soriano and was funded by the UV through the Office of the Vice-Principal for Sustainability, Cooperation and Healthy Life, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the National Maternal and Perinatal Institute of Lima. 

"The last time we visited Peru, in May 2019, we were told that the recovery rate of the child population had improved by almost 90%, which means that the breast milk bank project has been a success. We had to share it because we knew that we could implement it in other countries”. That's how the idea of producing this documentary came about, as Jose M. Soriano, executive producer of the documentary and responsible for the script and the original idea, tells us. 

"I had no experience in documentaries, but I knew that this story had to be told. The script came from the notes I had in my notebook and with that I was able to apply for a grant from the Unesco-UV Chair, which backed the documentary," recalls Jose M. Soriano. "From there, we started working with Ricardo Macián and E-studiOnline to make a documentary that took three years because the pandemic hit us and because of the exhaustive post-production process."

Three years of hard work between Peru and Spain, not in vain, has made the documentary a success. It has won numerous awards at international film festivals. "We never imagined this kind of recognition. At most we dreamt of 5 awards, but 60 in 4 months, we couldn’t have even fathomed it in the best case scenario. At this rate, when the promotion of festivals ends in January 2025, we might even reach a hundred awards", Soriano says. 

The awards not only aimed recognise the documentary itself, but they also value the script, the message conveyed, and its relationship with human rights, health and social awareness. "The main message we wanted to convey with the documentary is the importance of collaboration between institutions. It is necessary to work together across borders to implement this type of project and favour the local population because the results are within our reach and we have the capacity to greatly reduce child mortality," he explains.

"We have received awards from the US, Cannes, London, Brussels, Romania, Bolivia, Canada, Spain, India, Malaysia, etc. We are immensely happy, and we would like to thank the institutions that have collaborated and all the people who have made this great project possible, but above we would like to thank the mothers and their babies who are the focus of this narrative," says the producer.

Ñuñuyachiy: Breastfeeding with affection and care is the result of the efforts of the Universitat de València through the Office of the Vice-Principal for Sustainability, Cooperation and Healthy Life, the National Maternal Perinatal Institute of Lima, the Initiative for the Humanisation of Birth and Breastfeeding Assistance (IHAN), the UNESCO Chair of Development Studies of the UV, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the UV, the Food & Health Lab of the Institute of Materials Science of the UV and  Clinics of the Universitat de València, together with other researchers who have contributed with their experiences in the actions carried out.

• The documentary is available online with English subtitles.

ÑUÑUYACHIY: BREASTFEEDING WITH AFFECTION AND CARE by José Miguel Soriano del Castillo on Vimeo.