Festival Films A-Z

San José de Apartadó - Without Weapons in Colombia

Production

Lynex
Christian Bäucker
Warschauer Straße 61
10243 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 290 466 75
E-Mail: cb[at]lynex.de

Camera

Jorge Pavez

Cut

Christian Bäucker

Worldsales

Lynex
Christian Bäucker
Warschauer Straße 61
10243 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 290 466 75
E-Mail: cb[at]lynex.de

(San José de Apartadó - sin armas en Colombia)
D 2006, Regie: Jorge Pavez, OmU, 51 min.

Synopsis

San José de Apartadó - sin armas en ColombiaFor over 40 years, a grim war has been going on between the Colombian army, right-wing paramilitary groups, and left-wing guerrillas. The civilians who live on the territory affected by the war have always been constrained to participate in it one way or another: they are forced to deliver messages, circulate information, or provide the combatants with food. Recruitments by force are not uncommon; pressed to collaborate involuntarily, the civilian population turns into a military target.
In 1997, the citizens of San José de Apartadó, a rural village in the North of Colombia, bravely decided to put an end to this by declaring the village a 'community of peace'. Pledging themselves to strict neutrality, the inhabitants banned weapons, drugs and alcohol from their village. Their nonviolent and nonpartisan attitude is not well-received by the warring parties, who allege that the villagers side with the respective other party, thus justifying recurrent acts of violence against its citizens.
Nevertheless, San José de Apartadó is a symbol of hope: if the village manages to survive, there is a chance of peace in Colombia.
With the camera situated right in the middle of village life, the documentary San José de Apartadó - Without Weapons in Colombia depicts the lives of those who hope for peace in their region. Despite the threat to life and limb, they have bought fallow land and started to farm it, attempting to get as close as possible to a normal daily life. The camera accompanies the men and women to the banana harvest, it shows children playing in the streets. They talk about massacres and displacement, and about the everyday fear for their lives.

Biography

Elgas Reise (2001), Vidas Minimas (2004), San José de Apartadó - ohne Waffen in Kolumbien (2006)

Filmography

Elgas Reise (2001), Vidas Minimas (2004), San José de Apartadó ? ohne Waffen in Kolumbien (2006)

Dates

2203.10.200717:30Kommkino
6206.10.200721:00Filmhaus