Photo by Popturf.com
The spotlight was on Colombian cinema during the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, Aug. 30-Sept. 8.
The festival showed another side of the rich Latin American culture where cinema, in contrast to Hollywood films, mainly focusses on the obstacles and struggles in developing countries. The festival also brings the community together and explores the different traditions within Latin American culture.
Jairo Klopatofski, the Consul General of Colombia in Vancouver, said it wasn’t easy to bring these Latin American films to Canada. It was only possible to showcase this kind of cinema in Vancouver thanks to the Minister of Culture of Colombia and to the festival director and organizers, according to Klopatofski, who added that he was proud be part of and support Latin cinema through the festival.
“It is excellent to discover different aspects of Colombia, that I didn’t know of but learned about here in Vancouver, through these films,” Klopatofski said.
(Spanish-language interview)
La Playa D.C. by Juan Andres Arango, was the opening film of the festival. It explored the migration of people from the coast to the capital and centre of Colombia and probed the deeper meaning of integration into one’s own country. The characters, all with AfroColombian roots, have “corn braids” which ultimately symbolize the map of their way back home. Even while in the same country, it is a struggle for the them to accommodate to a different city and culture.
Director Arango said it was a privilege to be able to film in places where foreigners are not often welcomed. Arango also spoke about the difficulties and advantages he faced while working with people who were not professional actors.
“No script was given to them. Instead we gathered before shooting the scenes and explained to them how the scene should be and the important point to get across. From then, they would just improvise,” he said.
An advantage of working with people who lived in the streets shown in the movie was that it brought the film to life in the realistic way.
(Spanish-language interview)
