Ver Cine Colombiano: Noticias | Proimágenes Colombia

Colombia made its mark in the Fiction Feature Competition with Yo vi tres luces negras (I Saw Three Black Lights), the second feature film by director Santiago Lozano. The film, which recently screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, was produced by Contravía Films in collaboration with Malacosa Cine (Mexico), Autentika Films (Germany), Dublin Films (France) and Bárbara Films (Colombia). It has received support from various funding programs such as the Film Development Fund - FDC, Nouvelle Aquitaine F.I.L.M. (France), Ibermedia Program (2021), and EFICINE (Mexico 2022). It has also received recognitions such as the CNC Development Award at the Cinéfondation Residence (2018) and participated in the World Cinema Fund (2022) and Cinéma en Construction 42 (Cinélatino 2023). The Colombian film received the highest award in the category, the Grand Prix Coup De Coeur.
 
Another notable entry in competition was the co-production Aullido de invierno (Winter Howl), directed by Chilean director Matías Rojas Valencia. The film delves into the history of the Colonia Dignidad, a German sectarian enclave in southern Chile founded in 1961. Under the guise of charity and the provision of education and health care, the community subjected destitute children to isolation, abuse, and violence. The place served as a detention center for opponents of the Pinochet regime that Ingrid and Franz managed to escape after 40 years in captivity. Aullido de invierno is a collaboration between A Simple Vista (Chile), Clara Films (Chile), Centauro Comunicaciones (Colombia), and Maravillacine (Argentina), with Colombian Francoise Nieto-Fong as the producer.

Avalancha (Avalanche) by Daniel Cortés participated in the Short Film Competition: Documentary Program. This production was presented in the Short Film Competition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam - IDFA (2023). It was produced by José Manuel Duque López and Daniel Cortés Ramírez, with co-production by Germán García. In the Fiction section of the same competition, Bogotá Story by Esteban Pedraza, produced by Diana Patiño, was selected for Toulouse after participating in the Orizzonti Competition at the Venice Film Festival (2023). It also received recognition at the 21st Bogotá Short Film Festival - Bogoshorts, winning the Santa Lucía Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Actor, and Best Actress. In Toulouse received a Special Mention and the Short Film Audience Award.
 
Entre las sombras arden mundos (Worlds Burning Amid Shadows), the debut film by Ismael García Ramírez, participated in the Short Film Discoveries section after winning the award for Best Queer Short Film at the 46th edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
 
The Constelaciones showcase included La bonga by Canela Reyes and Sebastián Pinzón, a documentary supported by the FDC. The film had its world premiere at the 45th edition of the Cinéma du Réel International Documentary Film Festival (2023) and won the Rencontres de Toulouse Documentary Award in the Documentary Feature Competition (2023). The film was produced by Gabriella García Pardo, Jarana Cine, and Colectivo de Comunicaciones de Palenque Kuchá Suto.
 
Theo Montoya Anhell69 participated in the Fiction Discovery and Panorama of Associations sections. Since its premiere in Venice, it has been screened in more than 60 festivals worldwide, including the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival - Zinebi, DOK Leipzig, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), among others.
 
Also in the Fiction Discovery category was El otro hijo (The Other Son) by Juan Sebastián Quebrada. The film was produced by Evidencia Films, co-produced with Vaya Films, RTVCPlay, Geko Films (France), and Le Tiro (Argentina). It was Colombia's entry in the Best Ibero-American Film category for the 2024 Goya Awards and the upcoming Ariel Awards. El Otro Hijo has also been screened at various festivals, including San Sebastian, Biarritz, Bogota International Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, and Rome. The Colombian-Peruvian co-production Diógenes by Leonardo Barbuy La Torre also participated in the same section.
 
In the Young Audiences section, we had Dulce (Sweet) by Guille Isa and Angelo Faccini, Ramón by Natalia Bernal, and the animated short La Vitualla (The Provisions) by Santiago Posada. Guillermo Quintero's feature film Río Rojo (Red River), which won the Grand Prize of the FReDDD 2023 Festival, was presented in the Panorama of Associations.
 
As part of the Festival, Films in Progress was held, continuing its mission in its 43rd edition to help film professionals complete their projects and present them internationally. This selection included Horizonte (Horizon), the second feature film by César Augusto Acevedo (La tierra y la sombra / The Land and the Shadow), and the debut film Querido Trópico (Dear Tropic) by Ana Endara (Panama, Colombia). The first aforementioned film received the Grand Prix Cinéma en Construction and the second one, the Prix des Distributeur-Trices et Exploitant-Es Européen-Nes.
 
Finally, in Cine en Desarrollo 19, a space dedicated to the dialogue with Latin American filmmakers in the festival's selection, Santiago Lozano presented the project for his upcoming film El tiempo va (Time Goes By).