La Europa_Documental

THE EUROPE

"It is better to sing than to point"

In a world increasingly contaminated by wars, violence and hatred towards others, in the remote Montes de María in Colombia; Andrés Nárvaez proposes to sing instead of pointing. This is the story of a minstrel who connects the resistance of life with music and poetry.

DATA SHEET

THE EUROPE

GENRE: NON- FICTION - EXPERIMENTAL

STATUS: IN POST-PRODUCTION

COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION: COLOMBIA

RELEASE YEAR: 2024

DURATION: 21 MIN

RECORDING FORMAT: DIGITAL

RESOLUTION: 4K

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

AUDIO: 5.1

TEASER

HEARING OR
TARGET AUDIENCES

We are addressing the Colombian public of legal age (between 18 -50 years old), since we believe that the film's plot should be part of a national debate aimed at reconciliation, which should participate in the construction of the historical memory that now includes to a younger generation. We believe that in cities there is a relatively large audience that is interested in the production of documentary films and short films in which this project can be successful through film festivals, exhibitions in museums and educational institutions. However, we know that we must do everything possible to get out of the traditional distribution circuit and thus make the short film visible in rural areas of the savannahs of Sucre and Córdoba, Catatumbo, Cauca, Antioquia, Santander, Nariño, Putumayo with the help of local organizations .

As for the international arena and given the similarity of this story with several Latin American realities, it may have a great reception at LATAM festivals. Likewise, given the director's residence of more than 5 years in Spain and some scenes filmed there, this country could be the gateway to a European distribution and the closeness of the story between the rural and the city, youth and the third age big problem of this continent, can be well received in European and Asian festivals. Finally, and in the interests of what the Colombian government has been building with the African continent for a SOUTH-SOUTH meeting, alliances would also be sought to be able to bring the short film to some countries on this continent and also break with the traditional international circuit.

Motivation to carry out this project

When you go along Colombian roads it is common to see houses on the sides and even more so if they are secondary or tertiary roads. We go so many kilometers per hour that we forget the people who live there and even more so we ignore knowing what their stories are. This shows an enormous gap between rurality and the city, like the history of the armed conflict in the country, from one of its great aspects: forced displacement, fear and marginality. When I learned that Andrés Nárvaez lived on the side of a national highway and spent his mornings watching people and cars go by while singing to the mountains that surrounded him and at night to the moon that inspired him, I immediately wanted to meet him, a minstrel. who sings from his resilience, an activist who sings to maintain the territory, a composer who creates instantly with what he feels and sees, this was corroborated when I called him for the first time. On my first visit to Andrés I confirmed everything they had told me about him and speaking on the cell phone, those hours of conversation on the phone turned into hours listening to him speak and sing on the edge of his house on the national highway and understanding where he starts from. to build your art.

This relationship with Andrés began three years ago, when I called him on his cell phone for the first time, his number had been given to me by a great friend with whom I studied anthropology and now worked in the Montes de María, it was through him that I was able meet Andrés Nárvaez. He was in Ovejas (Colombia) and I was in Barcelona (Spain). That first call ended with an improvised song and the beginning of a film about a social leader, bagpipe minstrel, poet and president of the La Europa farm located in the Montes de María subregion.

The relationship we have with Andrés began without any pretensions, just to get to know each other and due to my need to reconnect with my country, which I had not set foot in for almost three years. During one of our calls, jokingly, Andrés told me that he had always wanted to make a film. It was one of his dreams. After a brief silence, I said: “What if we do it?” That night for me in Barcelona and day for him, in Colombia, we forged with enthusiasm and with laughter the making of a documentary, we hung up and thus began this journey called Europe.

ANDRÉS NARVAEZ

With a serious and comic character, substantial words and long songs, Andrés Narváez, 65 years old, has forged his way of being after walking long days and nights through the Montemarian land; after seeing, analyzing and feeling with a poetic and reflective spirit the contexts of his region and the situations that he has had to live with since he was a child, such as the Colombian violence that took him through Spain in a brief exile, the abandonment of his wife due to forced displacement , his love for the La Europa farm and its people who supported him since he was a child and today he continues to call home despite several forced displacements and an attempt on his life where he was shot 4 times. The combination of all these things has been the source of inspiration with which Andrés composes his songs. Also the energy to continue his work as a social leader.

CONTEXT

FINCA LA EUROPA MONTES DE MARÍA OVEJAS CHALÁN PALENQUE CAIMITO SUCRE BOLIVAR COLOMBIA GIJÓN OVIEDO ASTURIAS ESPAÑA

The following short film was filmed mainly in the department of Sucre, more specifically in the subregion of Montes de María in the municipalities of Ovejas and Chalán. Likewise, some of the scenes that appear in the short film have been filmed in Asturias, Spain in the municipalities of Oviedo and Gijón. Following the path of Andrés' social leader through Sucre, other shots were filmed in the municipality of Caimito, more precisely in the Doña Luisa swamp on the banks of the Canoas stream. Finally, his career as a musician also led us to film at the drum festival in San Basilio de Palenque, Bolívar.

La Europa is a farm located in the department of Sucre, in the Montes de María subregion. The farm is made up of 1,321 hectares that were acquired by the government of Carlos Lleras Restrepo in 1969. The land was given to 114 families of landless farmers, who formed an Association of farmers, of which Andrés Nárvaez, community leader, is the current president. In the 1990s, armed groups arrived in the area and caused forced displacement of the farm's residents. After their demobilization, the peasants returned to La Europa, but found that most of their lands were in the name of a private company. Since then, Andrés and the people of the farm have suffered a constant back-and-forth between dispossession and roots, amidst the vicissitudes of peasant life.

CREW

The work team of this film reflects a territorial and cultural diversity, there are people from Valle del Cauca, Sucre, Bolívar, Santander, Bogotá, Putumayo and Argentina.

The majority are new filmmakers, recent graduates; also people belonging to indigenous and palenquera communities, who make up the team of this short film.