With its first Oscar nomination this past spring, Colombia’s film industry further cemented itself as one to watch. But Ciro Guerra‘s El Abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent) is but one of a strong roster of films that have cropped up in the country. Aided by the Ley de Cine law passed in 2003 and bolstered by a new generation of filmmakers, Colombian cinema should definitely be on your radar. To help you, the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, in collaboration with Cinema Tropical and the Colombian International Film Festival New York City, is showing “Colombia Pictures: Films from Burning Blue” this Sunday.
Screening three films from the production company Burning Blue, the short series looks to champion these recent works of Colombian cinema. Perhaps most notably, they’re showing Guerra’s second film Los viajes del viento (The Wind Journeys). Brimming with color and set against the gorgeous landscapes of northern Colombia, The Wind Journeys feels like something out of a García Márquez novel. In telling the journey of a vallenato master looking to return his accordion to his rightful owner, Guerra’s film is a love letter to the musicality and myth making of Colombia.
They’re also showing Violencia, Jorge Forero‘s directorial debut which screened at the Berlin Film Festival last year. Telling three unconnected stories of men (a man in chains in the jungle, a young man who dreams of being part of something, and a soldier from an armed paramilitary group,) Violencia focuses on the ways violence reverberates through everyday life in Colombia.
The day-long series closes with Los Hongos. Óscar Ruiz Navia‘s sophomore feature is a vibrant and kinetic take on Cali youth culture, a decidedly Colombian take on Boyz n the Hood, if you will. Street artists Ras and Calvin are set on infusing their revolutionary ideals onto the world around them. Inspired by the Arab Spring uprising, they get to work on an ambitious mural where color, politics, and artistry will come together.
Colombia Pictures: Films from Burning Blue plays at the Museum of the Moving Image September 11, 2016