Sumercé

DIRECTOR(S): Victoria Solano   COUNTRIES: Colombia, United Kingdom   YEAR: 2019   LANGUAGE(S): Spanish   SUBTITLES: English   RUNNING TIME: 83 min

SECTION: International Forum 2019

SCREENINGS

Thursday, 03.10., 8.45 pm, kinoeins
Sunday, 06.10., 3.45 pm, Caritas-Pirckheimer-Haus

SYNOPSIS

Colombia is in a state of upheaval: In SUMERCÉ, Victoria Solana documents the land grabs, the state of the environmental and the political situation, following the lives of smallholder farmers in the province of Boyacá as they struggle against new forms of economic colonialism. If they don’t have land, they don’t have food. It’s a David versus Goliath struggle once again. What can the farmers do together.

Colombia faces huge economic and ecological challenges. Many smallholder farmers earn a living in the fragile ecosystem of the Páramo, with its mountains and savannah. But their livelihoods are at risk because Colombia’s neoliberalist opening has sparked a great deal of greed among multinational corporations. There are grand plans to mine the coal beneath the fertile land, regardless of the consequences. The local smallholder farmers refuse to give up their resistance. The director spent several years filming on location and accompanying those who refuse to watch helplessly as their livelihoods and environment are destroyed.

VICTORIA SOLANO

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Victoria Solano is an award-winning filmmaker who has lived in Argentina since 2010. She studied journalism at the University of San Andres and filmmaking at Politecnico Gran Colombiano. Her first documentary, 9.70, was a mid-length film selected for GoodPitch Argentina, the first event of its type in the region, and has been watched by over 2 million people around the world. After the release, Victoria received the Simon Bolivar, one of Colombia’s most coveted journalism awards. She is the co-founder of Clementina Films, a production company based in Colombia. Sumercé is her first long feature documentary co-produced by Pinball London (UK) and Clementina Films (Colombia) with support from Bertha Foundation, IDFA and ProImagenes.

FILMOGRAPHY

Eloy (2012), 9.70 (2012), The Presidents Who Didn’t Happen (2017), Sumercé (2019)

SCRIPT: Victoria Solano, Marco Cartolano   PRODUCERS: Paula Vaccaro, Marco Cartolano, Paula Vaccaro   CAMERA: Farid Pinilla Alarcón   EDITORS: Gustavo Vasco, Marco Cartolano, Agustina Covián   MUSIC: Bomba Estéreo

PRODUCTION: Paula Vaccaro, Pinball London   WORLD SALES: Smash  

WEBSITE
https://www.sumercefilm.com/