The first installation of Zapatos Rojos by Elina Chauvet took place on August 22, 2009 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, starting from a donation of 33 pairs of shoes, in response to the wave of femicides that occurred during the nineties.
The idea was inspired by the artist by the tragic death of her sister at the hands of her husband.
Subsequently, it was replicated a large number of times in Mexico and other countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Canada, United States, Spain, Italy and Norway and now the red shoes displayed in public places have become a symbol of the protest against femicide.
Now, a hundred used shoes have been painted red and left around the Sala Giardino at the Venice Film Festival: elegant, sporty, with heels, low to the ground ... The installation, by Elina Chaivet herself, accompanies the film “Zapatos Rojos ”By Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser, a Mexico-Italy co-production.
"It is difficult to say where the inspiration for this project came from, but certainly the immediate thought - told Ansa la Chaivet - came from the murder of my sister. For me it was a healing process: I pass from painting at the installation in 2009 because living at the time in Ciudad Juárez I noticed how much the number of femicides was growing and this reminded me of the idea of the installation, to raise my voice against violence against women ".
The film Zapatos Rojos, on the other hand, presented in Venice 2022 in the Orizzonti Extra section, is the first work of Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser and addresses issues such as femicide, the relationship between father and daughter and regrets linked to the past with delicacy and sensitivity, through a very personal story.
The film has a simple structure and uses the silences of its protagonist, played by Eustacio Ascacio, to immerse a tragic figure who finds himself out of place, geographically and mentally, in a society that has no mercy on those in difficulty.