A television documentary about native broadcasting in Québec and Bolivia. Directed by Garry Beitel.
A fascinating journey to Bolivia and Northern Québec, during which native broadcasters explore the use of "soap opera" on community radio as a tool for change.

In the fall of 1992, three native communicators from Québec travel to Bolivia to participate in a series of workshops in the town of Cochabamba and in several mining communities high in the Andes. During their stay, they discover that conditions governing the Quechua people's way of life differ greatly from those of Québec natives. The following summer, three Bolivian communicators from CEPRA (Centro de produccion radiofonica), fly north to Québec, where they spend two months on Atikamekw, Montagnais and Cree reserves, conducting radio novelas workshops adapted to the needs and realities of native communities. The resulting productions are successfully broadcast over the SOCAM and James Bay Cree radio networks.

The title RADIO NOVELAS is inspired by a unique form of soap opera which combines the creative imagination of drama with the intimacy of radio to create programs dealing with a wide range of social, political, historical and cultural themes. Shot in Northern Québec and in Bolivia, RADIO NOVELAS was directed by Garry Beitel and produced by George Hargrave for Nutaaq Média Inc. RADIO NOVELAS was broadcast on TVNC on December 13 and 15, 1994, and is slated for broadcast in its French version on April 13 and 15, 1995. It will be rebroadcast in English in the summer of 1995