Birds of Passage (Pájaros de Verano) by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, Ante mis ojos by Lina Rodriguez, Dulce by Guille Isa and Angello Faccini and The Labyrinth (El Laberinto) by Laura Huertas, were the Colombian films chosen for the 43rd edition of the TIFF, held September 6 - 16
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the most prominent events of the film industry. It generally consists of a combination of leading U.S. independent film productions and therefore includes a wide variety of films that often serve as a barometer for the Oscars.
On the top of this year’s Colombian selection, and currently screening in Colombia, was Birds of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra. The film will compete in the Contemporary World Cinema section along with 47 other productions from different countries such as the United States, Canada, Iceland, and Japan, among others. The film comes to TIFF after the 71st edition of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland and after the 22nd Festival de Lima, where it received the award for Best Director. Its world premiere took place at the 50th edition of the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and it was nominated for a Golden Duke Award to participate in the Odessa International Film Festival.
TIFF also screened the short film Ante mis ojos by Lina Rodriguez. This short competed in the Wavelengths section, a section for daring, visionary and independent voices in which 43 other films will participate from different parts of the world. As the festival’s program describes, “Shot on grainy, amber-like Super 8, Lina Rodriguez’s elusive and evocative Ante mis ojos offers a fragmentary glimpse of Colombia's mythic Lake Guatavita, long considered the inspiration for the legend of El Dorado.”
Ante mis ojos is a co-production between Colombia and Canada, produced by Lina Rodriguez and Brad Deane. Its editing and sound design was done by Lina Rodriguez, and Camilo Martínez was responsible for its sound design.
Another short was The Labyrinth, directed by Laura Huertas Millán. It just received the award for Best Director as part of the Pardi de domani section of the Locarno International Film Festival. The film takes you on a journey through the sinuous memory is of in narrator involved in the dramatic rise and fall of a drug lord in the Colombian Amazon. With images of the jungle contrasted with a mansion in ruins (a replica of the mansion from TV’s Dynasty), the narrator turns into the protagonist of a captivating story.
This film was produced by Laura Huertas Millán with the support of the Studio Arturo Lucia production company. The lead cast member is Cristóbal Gómez; Alejandra Sabathé, cinematography; Antonin Charret, assistant director; Guillaume Couturier, sound editing; François Bianco, composer; and Olivier Guillaume, sound mixer.
The last film included in TIFF was Dulce by Guille Isa and Angello Faccini, part of the Short Cuts section along with 56 other projects. Dulce it is a co-production between Colombia and the United States that narrates the story of a mother from a remote coastal town in Colombia who teaches her daughter to swim so she can collect cockles in the mangroves with the other community members. This exquisite documentary delicately captures the point in which a young girl comprehends the urgency and potential threats of survival.
