Hugo Chaparro Valderrama profiles some of Colombia’s leading film-makers

ANDRES BAIZ

An outstanding director of the new Colombian cinema, Baiz made his debut in 2007 with the psychological horror Satanas, selected as Colombia’s submission for the foreign-language Oscar. Bunker, his follow-up, is co-produced by Fox International Productions and is in post.

OSCAR RUIZ NAVIA

Ruiz Navia’s debut feature Crab Trap was a festival hit last year and explored a remote Colombian coastal region from the perspective of a tourist stranded in a village. Ruiz Navia is writing his second feature.

JAIRO CARRILLO & OSCAR ANDRADE

For the touching animation Little Voices, Carrillo, Andrade and their crew worked for 10 years to film the story of four little boys in the middle of a civil war. The film premiered in Venice in 2010.

CARLOS MORENO

Moreno’s Dog Eat Dog premiered at Sundance in 2008 and his follow-up, All Your Dead Ones, screened at the festival this year. Moreno says All Your Dead Ones “borders on black comedy and the absurd”.

CARLOS CESAR ARBELAEZ

Arbelaez’s The Colours Of The Mountain picked up the Kutxa-New Directors Award at San Sebastian last year. The jury said “the film manages through its deceptive simplicity and restrained use of cinematic devices, to convey the fragility of human integrity amid armed conflict”.

GLORIA NANCY MONSALVE

Monsalve’s Guillermino’s Last Bad Days premiered at the Cartagena Film Festival in 2008. Her documentary style and naturalistic work with actors echoes the films of Colombian director Victor Gaviria.

JORGE NAVAS

An outstanding commercials director, Navas’ 2009 debut feature Blood And Rain told the story of Jorge and Angela, two solitary night owls who meet by chance on the dark and violent streets of Colombia’s capital, Bogota. The film saw Navas hailed as one of the key directors of his generation.

CAMILO MATIZ

A leading local commercials director, Matiz’s debut, the 40-minute English-language thriller 1989, starred Vincent Gallo and screened at Cannes in 2009. A partner in Colombo Films, Matiz is now finishing the script for his second film.

JUAN FELIPE OROZCO

A master of psychological terror, Orozco’s 2006 debut feature Espectro was a story of fear and paranoia. Influenced by Hitchcock and Japanese horror films, the title drew major plaudits for the director. He is currently finishing his second feature, Greetings To The Devil.

CIRO GUERRA

Guerra’s debut The Wandering Shadow, a cryptic black-and-white tale about two urban losers, was Colombia’s submission for the foreign-language Oscar in 2006. In 2009 his second feature, The Wind Journeys, screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

RUBEN MENDOZA

Mendoza made waves at international festivals with his 2004 short The Fence before his debut feature The Stoplight Society. The film tells the story of street performers who alter the timing of traffic lights to allow more time to perform, beg and survive. Mendoza is now writing his second feature, El Burladero.

Topics