The third edition of the Bogota Audiovisual Market (BAM) wrapped at weekend after presenting 56 Colombian projects in development and screening 13 films. Sofia And The Stubborn (Sofia Y El Terco, pictured), La Sirga and La Playa D.C. are among the titles that generated buzz.

Andrés Burgos Vallejo’s debut feature Sofia And The Stubborn arrived in Bogota with good credentials after receiving the special jury prize at the Cartagena International Film Festival. The camera follows in the footsteps of an old lady (Spain’s Carmen Maura) whose dream is to see the sea for the first time. Tired of hearing excuses from the husband who promised to take her many years ago but never does, she decides to hit the road alone, opening her horizons and leaving her husband lost amid domestic chores.

A co-production between Colombia, Mexico and France, La Sirga is the first feature by William Veja. The story follows Alice, a woman rising from her ashes who chooses La Sirga, a decadent hostel on the banks of a lake in the Andes, as a new place to settle down. She manages to escape the armed conflict in Colombia but the memories of the war still haunt her. The film was selected for Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Juan Andrés Arango’s La Playa D.C. premiered in Un Certain Regard this year and tells of a young black man who flees Colombia’s Pacific coast and the civil war in search of a better life in Bogota. In the face of racism and hostility in the big city he looks for his younger brother, a crack addict who has disappeared on the streets. It is co-production between Colombia, France and Brazil.

In addition to screenings and meetings among professionals from the film industry, the event promoted BAM Talks seminars on how to use the international co-production treaties, combining genres in documentary and video games and transmedia, among others.

BAM also promoted a meeting between producers from Colombia and Brazil to bring together their professionals and encourage more co-productions between both countries. The most recent example was La Playa D.C.

“We certainly should explore further this partnership, since we are the countries of South America with more incentive laws in cinema,” said Vania Catani of Bananeira Filmes, the Brazilian producer of La Playa D.C. “There is no use in joining forces with countries that have no money to make movies,.”

BAM ran from July 9-13.

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