Alma del desierto Receives Award at DocMontevideo
Pantalla Colombia No.: 081agosto 16 - septiembre 30 / 2018
Directed by Mónica Taboada Tapia, produced by Guerrero Films and co-produced by Santiago Fernández Suárez and Karibay Duque, this documentary road-movie received the MiradasDoc Award at the 10th DocMontevideo
In Alma del desierto, after decades in solitary exile, Georgina, a transgender member of the indigenous Wayúu community, goes on a quest to reconnect with her family. On her journey through the desert, she realizes that the abandonment of the Wayúu people is caused by Colombia’s corruption – a situation that involves Venezuela and a coal mine that takes all of its water.
After participating in the Tribeca Film Institute International Pitch 2017, being selected for São Paulo’s DOCSP Market Selection in Brazil in 2017 and selected as a Good Pitch Project in Barranquilla, Colombia, in November 2017 and April 2018; Alma del desierto was part of the official selection of MiradasDoc in the 10th edition of DocMontevideo and received a MiradasDoc award to participate in MiradasDoc’s Documentary Pitching in the Canary Islands along with 12 other projects from Latin America.
The aim of this pitching program is to provide a pathway to the entertainment industry, boosting creative potential and providing opportunities to obtain financing and position products in the international market.
DocMontevideo has established itself as the gathering space for Latin American television and documentary filmmakers. Year after year, it is attended by a growing number of independent producers, students, television broadcast representatives, speakers and audiovisual professionals.
Trainings, marketing, networking and exhibitions take place at DocMontevideo for all profiles of the sector. It is a meeting place for all aspects of a documentary, and it caters to different audiences whether they are professionals, television stations, students or decision makers.
Mónica Taboada Tapia was born in Cartagena. She studied Anthropology at Universidad de Los Andes, but thanks to a scholarship, she left the social sciences to study film and television at Universidad Nacional. She has held various positions in different projects, from assistant camera to general producer.
In 2007, she joined Canal Capital as a general producer and later decided to make documentary briefs and daily reports on programs for youth and children. In 2009, she started her own company, Eva Guerrero Producciones, through which she produced her first short fiction film, Fidel (2012). In 2010, she worked as an assistant director for several short films.
The other Colombian projects that also participated in the festival’s Market include: Amazon (Amazona) directed by Clare Weiskopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck; Cartucho directed by Andrés Chaves and produced by Adriana Agudelo; Clamoroso silencio and Shooting, both directed by John Velasquez and produced by Adriana Yanquén; House of the rising sun by Orlando Culzat and produced by Diana Montenegro García; and No soy yo quien grita, directed by Yira Plaza O’Byrne and produced by Jorge Andrés Botero.