Movie scene falsely linked to decades-old Venezuelan landslide
- Published on March 3, 2026 at 05:26
- Updated on March 3, 2026 at 05:50
- 2 min read
- By Nyan Tun SHEIN, Pasika KHERNAMNUOY, AFP Myanmar, AFP Thailand
A screengrab from a short film has surfaced on social media with a false claim that it was taken after a landslide in Venezuela more than a decade ago, showing a father who refused rescue so he could save his daughters. Part of the movie was uploaded to YouTube with a description saying it was made for a Venezuelan film festival, while its producer said in a separate clip it was not filmed at the scene of a disaster.
"'Don't pull me out ... my two daughters are holding my hand' -- the last words of a father who gave his life for his children," reads part of a Burmese-language Facebook post uploaded on February 17, 2026.
The attached image shows a rescue worker trying to help a man stuck in the ground with only his neck and head visible.
"Father who refused to be rescued because he did not want to let go of his daughters (underneath)," reads the Burmese-language text on the image.
The caption goes on to claim it was a tale from the Vargas landslide in Venezuela in December 1999, which killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people, according to estimates (archived link).
Similar posts were shared elsewhere on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok. It also circulated in different languages, including Arabic, Burmese, English, Korean, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish.
"As a father of two girls, my heart is broken," reads a comment in one of the posts.
Another wrote: "I got tears in my eyes reading this."
But the circulating image is in fact taken from a Venezuelan short film in 2007.
A reverse image search on Google led to a YouTube video uploaded by a channel called Siete Filmes on October 13, 2024 (archived link).
The clip is titled "Sofia and Daniela" and its description reads that it was produced in 2007 as part of the Cine Átomo marathon of the Venezuelan Film Festival (archived link).
The image in the false post matches the scene at the 1:01 mark of the YouTube video.
The description also says Venezuelan actor Sebastián Torres produced the film and played the part of the partially buried man (archived link).
He shared a short clip on Instagram on May 3, 2025, where he dismissed claims that the footage showed an authentic scene taken during a disaster (archived link).
"I am an actor who played that character. Also I wrote that short film," he said in the video.
AFP previously debunked misinformation using parts of art creations here, here, and here.
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