DocumentaMadrid
XV Festival Internacional de Cine Documental
Synopsis
Two hundred years after Simón Bolívar's liberation campaign in Colombia, Pablo Álvarez-Mesa conjures up the liberator's ghost and the soldiers of the independence army abandoned in a lake like a mass grave. In a poetic journey, he leads us through misty landscapes where the echoes of violence that the country continues to be subjected to still resound to this day. The photography of extreme and serene beauty puts us into a dreamlike place, where Bolivar's poem Mi delirio sobre el Chimborazo, recited by filmmaker Camilo Restrepo, invites us to reflect on how colonial history has impacted local communities. (RS)
Festivals
2024 - Cinema du réel - Competition - World premiere
Director biography
Pablo Álvarez-Mesa
Pablo Alvarez-Mesa‘s films have played at international film festivals including Berlinale, IFFR, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Visions du Réel, and RIDM. His film Bicentenario, explores Simón Bolívar’s battles of Independence, and was played at the 2021 Berlinale, MoMA Doc Fortnight and Viennale, among other festivals. It earned a Jury Mention at Festival Punto de Vista in the Main Competition. Pablo is also a cinematographer and editor and has edited with Sofia Bohdanowicz her feature film Opus 28. Pablo's interest in documentary lies in the relationship between facts and fiction; between what is recalled and what is inevitably constructed. His films touch in one way or another, issues of displacement, history and collective memory.
Images gallery
Finished
Sessions
June
Saturday 01
20:45 h
CINETECA - Plató
Credits
Language
Spanish - Subtitles in english
Director
Pablo Álvarez-Mesa
Production
Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Cinematography
Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Editing
Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Sound
Alex Lane
Music
Stefan Schneider
Contact
soldierslagoonfilm@gmail.com
