"Artes en Ayacucho," a film by Peter Biella (M.A., '75), associate professor of anthropology at SF State, received the American Anthropological Association's Best Short Film Award. Shot in the thin air at 16,000 feet in Ayacucho, Peru, the film follows the process of textile production from the shearing of alpacas to the dyeing and weaving of their wool. Biella encourages students in his visual anthropology classes to use their talents for the greater good of the world, and sees this latest work as an excellent model. Biella plans to show "Artes en Ayacucho" to wholesalers in an effort to help the people of Ayacucho create a textile co-op, "To show wholesalers how complex and time consuming the process is so that they will not have difficulty justifying a modestly high price to retailers." Jennifer Wolowic (B.A., '06) oversaw the film's sound.

Photo credit: "Textiles" from "Artes en Ayacucho" Peter Biella 2006