Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin American Filmmaker Program Now in Colombia
Tribeca Film Institute today announced that they, with support from Bloomberg, will be expanding their Latin America Media Arts Fund (LAMAF) with a program for filmmakers in Colombia.
The program, currently in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, is designed to help filmmakers strengthen the skills necessary for pitching their films, writing proposals and soliciting international funding.
This new venture, the “TFI Bogota Filmmaker Workshop,” will take place at Centro Atico. Those chosen receive workshops and year-long mentorship to help their films reach global audiences. The sessions are led by TFI staff, industry professionals and established filmmakers. The aim is to educate emerging filmmakers and advance their feature documentary or hybrid works that are in late development or early production.
Mentors currently involved include Carlos A. Gutiérrez (co-founding director of New York-based Cinema Tropical), Jaime Tenorio (Director, “Senal Colombia”), documentary filmmaker Luis Ospina (“Tigre de Papel”), Pia Barragan (Manager of Distribution, Cine Colombia), and writer/director Andres Baiz (“Satanas”).
“This workshop represents an important opportunity for the world to hear a new set of stories told by Colombia’s talented community of filmmakers and creative storytellers,” said Ryan Harrington, Vice President of Artist Programs at Tribeca Film Institute. “As TFI’s presence grows throughout Latin America with the generous support of Bloomberg, we hope the world will discover new values and histories that connect humanity in ways we never thought possible.”
The workshops will be held this year in Bogota, Colombia from July 29-31, Sao Paulo, Brazil from August 30-September 1, Santiago, Chile from October 22-24 and Mexico City, Mexico from October 27- 31. Each of the programs will have sessions open to the public. For more information go to Tribeca Film Institute’s website.
The following projects and filmmakers have been selected for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund Filmmaker Workshop in Bogota:
“El Confidente” (“The Confidant”)
Luis Villegas (director) and Alejandra Mosquera (producer). An auteur’s documentary that follows the day-to-day life of Gustavo Salazar Pinesa, “the attorney of the Mafia”: a contradictory, eccentric, ambiguous and polemic man who represents a paradigm in contemporary Colombian history.
“La Selva INflada” (“The Inflated Jungle”)
Alejandro Naranjo (director); Rodrigo Dimate (producer). In an ancestral community deep in the Colombian Amazon region, a series of suicides are occurring among young indigenous people beset by the arrival of light-skinned men who bring a lot of capital and a frenetic culture.
“Puentes en el Mar” (“Bridges Over the Sea”)
Patricia Ayala Ruiz (director) and Ericka Salazar Berdugo (producer). “Bridges Over the Sea”) presents a portrait of the port city of Tumaco, a territory inhabited by people living in pile dwellings across five different communes who find themselves plagued by a wide array of warring factions.
“Memorias en Deshielo” (“Thawing Memories”)
Lorena Kraus & Alejandro Bernal (co-directors); Juliana Florez (producer). “Thawing Memories” is an amazing journey across Colombia´s mountains in the 1930’s, seen through the archival of Erwin Kraus – a restless adventurer and mountain climbing pioneer who filmed and photographed a beautiful testimony of Colombia´s highest peaks.
“Resonacia del la Ruina” (“Aftermath of the Wreck”)
Ivan Reina Ortiz (director); Juan Felipe Rios Rodriguez (producer). Fercho’, ‘Hippie’ and ‘Devil’ live together in a derelict house within a “no-man’s land”, until an eviction notice makes them wonder whether to leave by their own means or to stay until the end – and find out what remains beyond the wreck.
“La Defensa Del Dragon” (“Defense of the Dragon”)
Natalia Santa (writer/director), Ivette Liang (producer). Three gamblers spend their days in the center of Bogotá, learning that it is never too late to lose.
“La Pesca del Atun Blanco” (“Fishing for the White Tuna”)
Maritza Blanco (director), Etienne Boussac (editor/producer). Mariana pays for school by fishing for–and selling–the elusive white tuna, which is dumped from drug-trafficking boats, off the coast of Colombia.
“Volta”
Jose Orozco (director, VFX supervisor). A courageous family fights energy giant Combusto and discovers a sustainable energy source.
“La Terra Y La Sombra” (“Land and Shade”)
Jorge Forero (director/producer), Paula Perez (producer). A man returns home only to find that an insidious sickness threatens the sugarcane fields, his family, and their livelihoods.
“En Un Lugar Feliz” (“In a Happy Place”)
Inti Zamorra (producer), Maria Nevett (producer). A father and mother brave guerrilla warfare to Skype with their son, a solider.
