= Lame, Crummy.     = OK, Watchable.     = Good.     = Very Good.     = Great, Classic.

FEATURE-LENGTH FILMS / LARGOMETRAJES
	CADA VOZ LLEVA SU ANGUSTIA (Every Voice Bears your Anguish) Director: Julio Bracho Writer: Julio Bracho, Alejandro Cotto Cinematography: Alex Phillips Jr. Music: Raúl Lavista Year/length: 1965. 95 minutes. B&W. Setting: Soacha (town in Andes) Language: Spanish Home Release: no DVD	This film was made in Mexico, but is based on a novel by Colombian writer Jaime Ibáñez. In the Andean village of Soacha, Cob is in love with his cousin Maria. One day he gets drunk and hits her. Maria seeks refuge at the hut of old Ferro, whose wife has left him. Cob leaves the village and Ferro continues to shelter Maria. One day his son Nicolas spies her bathing and rapes her. The lame Isidro tries to stop him, and in revenge Nicolas burns Isidro's hut with him inside. Horrified by his own act, Nicolas throws himself over a cliff. This leaves Ferro and Maria to love each other freely. [I have not seen this film.] Sinopsis en español: En Soacha, pueblo de los Andes colombianos, es descubierto el cuerpo carbonizado del cojo Isidro dentro de su choza incendiada y, en el fondo de un despeñadero cercano, el del joven Nicolás. Se sospecha del padre de Nicolás, Ferro, por su mal carácter y por la pasión que le inspira la joven María, y solo el médico del lugar lo defiende. Flashback: Los campesinos quieren abandonar sus áridas tierras para ir en busca de las buenas que reparte el gobierno. Uno de ellos, Pablo, está dispuesto a partir, y otro, Cob, se aferra a su tierra natal. Cob ama a su prima María pero no se atreve a decírselo. Ferro, abandonado por su esposa, con su hijo Nicolás, de cuya paternidad duda, desiste de enamorar a María cuando comprueba que ella ama a Cob. Éste y María se unen pero él se emborracha por el sentimiento de culpa. Ebrio, Cob golpea a María y ella huye de la choza donde vive con él y se refugia con Ferro. Creyendose traicionado por María, Cob deja el lugar. María se queda en casa de Ferro quien la respeta y protege. Un día que María se baña, Nicolás que continuamente la espía, la viola, sin que el cojo Isidro pueda impedirlo, pero alcanza a dar a Nicolás un golpe con su muleta. En venganza, Nicolás quema la choza del cojo con él adentro. Horrorizado ante lo que ha hecho, Nicolás se despeña sin querer. Fin del flashback. María corresponde al amor de Ferro.
	CONQUISTADORES DEL PACIFICO Director: José María Elorrieta Writer: José María Elorrieta, Federico de Urrutia, Manuel Sebares Cinematography: Alfonso Nieva Music: Federico Contreras Year/length: 1963. 86 minutes. Setting: Colombia, Panama, 1509-1513 Language: Spanish Indian Content: medium Home Release: VHS Rating:	An incompetent attempt to glorify the exploits of Spanish conquistador vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519). A prologue claims that Balboa was more interested in discovery than in riches, and the film continues this fulsome whitewashing by presenting Balboa as a pious, loyal Spaniard who sometimes protects the Indians from greedier explorers. In 1509 Balboa and his dog Leoncico stow away on a ship in Hispaniola headed for Cartagena. He is at loggerheads with the leader, Rodrigo de Bastidas. On the way they rescue Francisco Pizarro and his men adrift in a lifeboat. Upon reaching the mainland they found the city of Santa María la Antigua del Darién (in what is today Colombia, near the Panama border) and Balboa is declared alcalde. He then travels west to Cueva and befriends the cacique Careta and falls in love with his daughter Anayensi. Continuing west, Balboa and his new allies befriend the cacique Comogre, from whom he learns of a land to the south flowing with gold, and, more importantly to our Hollywood hero, a vast sea to the west just waiting to be discovered by a European. The tale ends anticlimactically with Balboa's view of the Pacific and the viewer is left wondering what is so great about this "discovery." The film presents Balboa's curiosity for the sea as a noble quest that led him to forfeit his discovery of El Dorado, and it glosses over the incessant treachery that infested the relationships among the various conquistadors. Conquistadores del Pacifico was a Spanish production with mostly Spanish actors, except for Frank Latimore as Balboa. It was released in a dubbed English version under the title Balboa. Despite the Spanish aegis and on-location shooting in Panama, it seems more like a U.S. production, and the Indians all look like leftovers from a John Wayne movie with their headbands and long faces. The battle scenes are well done; all else is dreadful.
	EL ORIGEN DEL PUEBLO TIKUNA (Mangutangu Aru Ngoechiga) Director/writer: Gustavo de la Hoz Music: German Arrieta Year: 2009. Setting: Colombian rainforest at the dawn of creation Language: Spanish Indian content: high Home Release: no DVD yet	Thousands of years ago, in the Amazon jungle, the god Gutapa observed that his people lived like animals and did not follow his rules. So he created Yoí and Ipi, who in turn created the people of Maguta. Yoi and his wife Umariana fished their people out of the river Evare. Yoi taught them how to survive in the jungle, and how to respect and protect it. He taught them to work in the community and instituted rituals. This film tells the Tikuna myth of creation and shows the culture of the people who today number about 32,000 in the areas of Río Santo Antonio do Ica and Río Solimones. Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=zYQb4f-CaGU Sinopsis en español: Narra el mito de la creación según los pueblos indígenas del Trapecio Amazónico. Es considerado un rescate de un mito y una lengua, y el pronunciamiento de este pueblo indígena colombiano para enseñar y dar a conocer la profundidad de su cultura ancestral.
	LA SIRGA (The Towrope) Director/writer: William Vega Cinematography: Sofia Oggioni Hatty Year/length: 2012. 86 minutes Setting: a lagoon in the Andes Language: Spanish Home Release: August 2013	Alice is helpless. War memories invade her mind like threatening thunder. Uprooted by the armed conflict, she tries to reshape her life in La Sirga, a decaying hostel on the shores of a great lake high in the Andes. There, on a swampy and murky beach, she will try to settle down until her fears and the threat of war resurface again. Website: peliculalasirga.com Facebook page: facebook.com/PeliculaLasirga Sinopsis en español: Alicia está desamparada. El recuerdo de la guerra llega a su mente como amenazantes truenos. Desterrada por el conflicto armado intenta rehacer su existencia en La Sirga, un hostal decadente a orillas de una gran laguna en lo alto de Los Andes que pertenece a Óscar, el único familiar que conserva con vida, un viejo huraño y solitario. Ahí en una playa fangosa e inestable buscará echar raíces hasta que sus miedos y la amenaza de la guerra reaparezcan de nuevo.
	LOS VIAJES DEL VIENTO (Wind Journeys) Director/writer: Ciro Guerra Cinematography: Paulo Andrés Pérez Music: Iván Ocampo, Marciano Martínez Year/length: 2009. 117 minutes. Setting: various towns & villages along Northern coast, 1968 Language: Spanish, some Arhuaco Indian Content: low Home Release: DVD Rating:	Ignacio Carrillo is a legendary accordion player who decides to give up playing after the death of his wife and return his instrument to his teacher, Maestro Guerra, whom he has not seen in years. As he sets out for the remote Guajira region of northern Colombia, a teenage boy, Fermin, impulsively decides to follow him, asking Ignacio to teach him. The grim, taciturn Ignacio refuses, but Fermin continues to follow him, and they trek through various small towns and countrysides. As their journey takes them to farther and farther regions, through mountains, deserts, prairies and beaches (all beautifully captured in widescreen aspect ratio 2.35:1), we learn that the young man and old are on similar yet opposite quests. Fermin reveals that his father was a musician who used to play with Ignacio. He has left his mother and girlfriend in a wild attempt to reconnect with his father by following this grumpy old man who just wants to be left alone, and is seeking his teacher in order to bring his musical career, and his life obligations to a close. Towards the end of the movie they pass through Nabusimake and meet the Arhuaca (Kogi) Indians, a fascinating community who restore the ailing Ignacio to health. Ultimately the pair reach their destination, the Guajira peninsula, where they encounter Wayuu Indians. The scenes with indigenous peoples are brief but fascinating, adding more wonder to this mesmerising, masterful film. Director Ciro Guerra says he made Los viajes del viento in part to introduce audiences to another side of Colombia besides the drug and gang scene so often shown in film. He has succeeded brilliantly, and his achievement is one of the finest Colombian films ever made. CAST: Ignacio: Marciano Martínez (a professional accordion player in real life) Fermin: Yull Núñez Guajira woman: Erminia Martínez Sinopsis en español: Ignacio Carrillo, un juglar que durante años recorrió pueblos y regiones llevando cantos con su acordeón, toma la decisión de hacer un último viaje, a través de toda la región norte de Colombia, para devolverle el instrumento a su anciano maestro, y así nunca más volver a tocar. En el camino, encuentra a Fermín, un joven cuya ilusión en la vida es seguir sus pasos y ser como él. Cansado de la soledad, Ignacio acepta ser acompañado, y juntos emprenden el recorrido desde Majagual, Sucre, hasta Taroa, más allá del Desierto de la Guajira, encontrándose con la enorme diversidad de la cultura caribe y viviendo todo tipo de aventuras y encuentros.
SHORT FILMS / CORTOMETRAJES
	ALIJUNA (Foreigner) Director/writer: Cristina Escoda Cinematography: Camila Jiménez Villa Music: Renou, Kiritchenko, Cobra Killer Year/length: 2010. 18 minutes. Setting: La Guajira Language: Spanish; a few lines of Wayuu	A senator travels to the remote region of La Guajira to pick up a newborn baby that she has paid for in advance. When she arrives, she learns that the Wayuu girl she paid had twins, and that the girl wants to keep one of the babies. The senator insists on taking both babies. This well-made short film has won several awards at the various festivals where it was screened. Sinopsis en español: La doctora está nerviosa. Ha estado esperando este momento durante mucho tiempo y siente la tensión. Su chofer, Nelson, un wayuú que lleva trabajando para ella varios años, es su contacto. Él la guiará hasta el pueblo de la Guajira donde una joven wayúu ha accedido a venderle el bebé que lleva dentro. Al llegar a la ranchería, la joven wayúu ya ha dado a luz a un bebé hermoso. Pero Nelson presiente que las mujeres de la ranchería esconden algo.
	EÇKWE QUIERE DECIR COLIBRÍ (Eskwe Means Hummingbird) Director: Mónica María Mondragón Triana Cinematography: Juan David Velásquez Music: Olga Walkiria Year/length: 2010. 17 minutes. Setting: Columbia Language: Spanish Indian Content: medium	A little girl named E'çkwe lives in a house of prostitution where her mother works. None of the other women know the mother's name and they simply refer to her as "La India". Slowly the little girl becomes aware of the nature of her mother's work. Sinopsis en español: Narra la historia de una niña indígena llamada Eçskwe, y La India, su madre, quienes llegan a vivir a Hawai Show 2000, un burdel de carácter popular. La niña se confronta progresivamente con el universo social del burdel y sus habitantes cotidianos: los niños que al igual que Eçkwe viven allí, las mujeres que trabajan en el lugar, los clientes, los curiosos.
	GONAWINDÚA Directors: Giuliano Cavalli, Jorge Mario Suárez Writer: Jorge Mario Suárez Cinematography: Giuliano Cavalli Year/length: 2011. 15 minutes. Setting: Sierra Nevada, Santa Marta Language: Kogi Indian Content: high	Gonawindúa is the most important peak of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. For the Kogi, is the center of the planet, the Origin of all things. The mission of the Kogi as Elder Brothers is to Protect it from the ignorance of the Younger Brothers, the non-Kogi, Whose irresponsibility with mother nature has provoked the rage of Sezhankwa, the Creator. Kankuemaku, an old Mamo (Shaman), entrusts his young apprentice Cenkui to make a payment in one of Their sacred territories. In the future, a couple years beyond 2088, the consequences of our acts will be seen. www.facebook.com/Gonawindua Trailer: vimeo.com/31698734 Sinopsis en español: Luego de una adivinación, Kankuémaku, un viejo Mama Koggi encomienda a Cenkui, su joven aprendiz a realizar un pagamento (trabajo espiritual) para cancelar las deudas con la naturaleza en la línea negra. Su camino es la manifestación del recorrido del agua desde la pureza de los cerros hasta el mar, recorrido que ha sido manipulado por el hombre blanco que paulatinamente ha ido poblando de manera irresponsable la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta considerada por lo Koggis el corazón del universo.
NOT YET REVIEWED: