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The Quispe Girls

2014 film by Sebastian Sepulveda

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ17633223 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Quispe Girls (Spanish: Las niñas Quispe) is a 2013 Chilean film written and directed by Sebastián Sepúlveda. It is based on the true story of the Quispe sisters and on Juan Radrigán's play Las brutas.

Plot

The film depicts the tragic story of Justa, Lucía, and Luciana Quispe, three sisters who worked as goat-herders in the Chilean altiplano located in the Atacama desert region, the ancestral home of the indigenous Colla people.

In 1974, the sisters were worried that their animals were losing their economic value due to the growing rumors about the military government that had reached even the remotest areas of the country. Already affected by the loss of one of their sisters, they were further frightened by the news that the military had reached the nearby town of Copiapó. Tragically, Justa, Lucía, and Luciana committed suicide by hanging themselves from a rock, along with their two dogs.

Cast

Catalina Saavedra as Lucía Quispe

Francisca Gavilán as Luciana Quispe

Digna Quispe (the Quispe sisters' niece) as Justa Quispe

Segundo Araya as Don Juan

Alfredo Castro as Fernando

Shooting

The filmmakers chose to shoot the suicide scene on the same rock where the real incident took place, and Justa Quispe's role was played by her niece, Digna Quispe. Director and screenwriter Sebastián Sepúlveda recalled his initial meeting with Digna, "I was very afraid of Digna when I first met her. She doesn't shake hands, she just shakes fingers in a very cold way," but later Digna agreed to participate in the project. Digna's personality was believed to reflect her life in the Altiplano, and it left an indelible mark on the film.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Quispe Girls” as 2014 film by Sebastian Sepulveda. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Quispe, Girls and film.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2013, 1974—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2013, 2014—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Quispe, Girls and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Quispe Girls”, the useful work is to connect “2014 film by Sebastian Sepulveda” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17633223. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013 and 1974.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Quispe Girls”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Quispe Girls primary sources, The Quispe Girls archive and Quispe research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Quispe Girls”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Quispe Girls” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.