Andrés Bayona
Andrés Bayona Gómez worked with Proimágenes Colombia for almost fifteen years; he began by designing and implementing the calls for entries for the Film Development Fund (FDC), and is leaving as Proimágenes Projects Director and Executive Director of the Bogota Audiovisual Market (BAM).
Bayona did his undergraduate studies in civil engineering at Universidad de los Andes, completed a specialization course in Management and Cultural Policies, and graduated with a Masters in Cultural Management from the University of Barcelona. In the private sector, he worked as a planning and control engineer at the Bogota Investment Company and as sales manager at Prodesa. In 1995, he worked at the Colombian Institute of Culture, where he was part of the team that organized the First National Meeting of Colombian Culture and the Eleventh World Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
During his stay in Barcelona, he worked at the Marketing and Communications Department of the Gran Teatre Del Liceu and at the Academic Support Unit of the University of Barcelona. Upon returning to Colombia in 1998, he served as an adviser at the office of the Deputy Minister of Culture, where he headed the “Eméritos" program and participated in the design and implementation of the "Management Consulting for Cultural Institutions” program. From there, he became manager of the Symphony Orchestra of Colombia and the National Symphonic Band; he later acted as coordinator of the Exhibition and Outreach Group at the national Film Department, where he was in charge of managing National Film Festivals and Screenings. He then took a position as secretary of the Film Classification Committee, which handles processes and strategies for the restoration, preservation, conservation and dissemination of Colombian Film Heritage. He has also led initiatives such as the “Images Portfolio – Video Library of Colombian Film" project and the Project for the Recovery of Alternative Theaters and Distribution of Independent Film.
In 2001 he began working with Proimágenes Colombia, where in recent years he was at the helm of Colombia’s public relations with international film institutions and festivals. His work at Proimágenes also saw him organize a range of professional meetings of the Colombian film industry, including the International Producers Meeting in Cartagena (seven editions), the Video Library of Colombian Film (five editions), and bi-national meetings in Switzerland (Nyon and Locarno), Spain (Barcelona, San Sebastián, Huelva), and Guadalajara (Mexico). In addition, he was executive director of the five editions of the Bogota Audiovisual Market (BAM) (2010-2014).
Over his nearly 15 years with Proimágenes Colombia, Andrés Bayona’s responsibilities included the design and implementation of the Colombian Film Development Fund’s Calls for Entries; distribution and international sales of the movies listed in the Colombian Film Catalog; distribution and exhibition of independent film at Alternative Theaters in the country; and the general coordination and organization of various film festivals and screenings. Among the festivals organized by Bayona were the Second, Third and Fifth versions of the Bogota International Documentary Screening and its nationwide tour; the first Australian Film Festival in Bogota; the Fourth Colombian Film Festival in Boston, the First Colombian Film Festival in Miami; Filmland Kolumbien in Berlin; and the many editions of the 100% Colombie Documentaire Festival in Paris and Brussels. Likewise, he coordinated and organized the Colombian presence at a range of festivals, such as Guadalajara, Cannes, Toronto, San Sebastián, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Rotterdam, Venice, and Loca