From February 16th to 26th, the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival is featuring an impressive Colombian presence. This participation includes the co-production Transfariana in the Documentary Panorama, Arde un reino (Burning kingdom) in the Co-production Market, Melancolía in the Fiction Toolbox, seven participants in the Berlinale Talents program, and Diana Bustamante and Juanita Onzaga as members of the jury. In addition, representatives from more than 20 institutions and companies are also taking part in the event. At the close of this edition, Arde un reino had received recognition by the Talent Highlight Award.
Established in 1951, the Berlin International Film Festival - Berlinale is a space for cross-cultural exchange and critical cinematic exploration of social issues. It is considered the world's most politically-oriented major film festival, discovering new talents and supporting filmmakers from all backgrounds in their professional paths, projects, and visions. Each year, the festival showcases around 400 films across various genres and formats in different sections and special presentations.
The Panorama section, which focuses on queer, feminist, and political issues while breaking down categories and considering unconventional elements in today's cinema, will feature Transfariana, directed by Joris Lachaise and produced by Guillermo Quintero and Anahí Farfán of Fuega Cine. The film is a beneficiary of the 2021 Film Development Fund (FDC) in the Minority Co-Production category.
Arde un reino, a project in development and second feature film by Catalina Arroyave (Los días de la ballena), is participating in the Berlinale Co-Production Market. This five-day event brings together 600 selected international producers, sales agents, distributors, and broadcast and financing representatives actively working on international co-productions. Projects can find co-production partners and financing opportunities at this event. In this same space, as part of the Visitors' Programme —focused on emerging producers— Andrés Gómez, Yeily Antonio, and Alejandro Zapata will also be participating.
Thanks to the Film Development Fund - FDC, Heny L Cuesta Mena's Melancolía project participates in the Fiction Toolbox program. This is an EFM Diversity & Inclusion initiative that provides commercial tools and connections to entry- to mid-level fiction feature film producers or filmmakers in the fiction sector, specifically focusing on creators from marginalized and underrepresented groups.
In addition, visual artist Manuel Correa, director Simón Mesa Soto (Leidi, Amparo), sound designer María Alejandra Rojas (Retrato de un artista, El buen salvaje), producer Jaime Guerrero (Los días de la ballena), Gustavo Lorgia Garnica (Memoria, Litigante), director and producer Jorge Forero (Violencia), and Elkin Calderón Guevara, will participate in the Berlinale Talents.
Juanita Onzaga (Nuestro canto a la guerra) will serve as a member of the Generation 14plus International Jury. Onzaga, a Colombian-born filmmaker and artist based in Brussels, Bogotá, and Mexico, weaves fiction and non-fiction in her films, exploring the importance of mysticism, ancestral knowledge, and the transformation of the trauma resulting from violent conflict. Meanwhile, Diana Bustamante (Memoria, Nuestra película) will join the Documentary Award Jury. As a producer, director, and programmer, Bustamante has significantly contributed to establishing Colombian cinema as a global presence. Her productions have been showcased twice in the Forum section of the Berlinale.
Likewise, with the support of the FDC, Colombia will have a stand (number 149) at the Gropius Bau, the venue of the European Film Market. The stand, along with the Conference of Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities of Ibero-America — CAACI and the Mexican Institute of Cinematography — IMCINE, is part of the pilot initiative Identidad Latina (Latin Identity). The stand aims to accompany the Colombian delegation to the festival, which includes Claudia Triana, Carlos Moreno, and Isabel Cuadros from Proimágenes Colombia; Katalina Tobón representing the Bogotá Audiovisual Market - BAM; Andrés Bayona from Bogotá International Film Festival — BIFF; Diana Dudek from Cineplex; Salym Fayad from the Muestra Itinerante de Cine Africano MUICA; and Loreta Gandolfi from the Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias -FICCI.
In addition, the event will be attended by directors and producers Josephine Landertinger Forero from Global Eyes; Juan Felipe González Barrero from Espectro Media; Marco Vélez Esquivia from 2/4 Producciones; Diego García from It's a Wrap; Henry Cuesta from Cimarrón Producciones; Andrés Suárez from the distribution company Interior XIII; Diana Camargo Buriticá from Laberinto Cine y Televisión; Antón Rivera Evseeva from Backbone Films; David Barrera from Minded Factory; Wilson Javier Arango Giraldo from Animal Films; Federico Mejía and Eric Giovannini from Babilla Cine; Diego Armando Gómez Palacios; and Augusto Sandino from Schweizen Media.
