War Takes

A film by Adelaida Trujillo and Patricia Castaño

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SYNOPSIS

With conflicts raging on nearly every continent, war now regularly transcends the battlefield into everyday life - whether its increased security at airports or infringements on personal privacy. In WAR TAKES, Colombian filmmakers Adelaida Trujillo and Patricia Castaño turn the cameras on themselves to portray the tough realities of civil life in the violent, war-ravaged country of Colombia. Partners in an independent media company, they struggle to balance their family, business and political lives: reporting from dangerous parts of the country; managing their company as the economic situation worsens; parenting young children amid threats of violence and kidnapping; and rethinking their political views as war moves closer to the city. The filmmakers skillfully incorporate coverage from local television, archival footage, and narration to provide insightful analysis and historical background - including U.S. involvements in the region. Powerfully intimate and often humorous, their chronicle reveals how life goes on in Colombia - however surreal - against the terrifying backdrop of war.

PRESS

“An extraordinary portrait…With humor and candor, War Takes shakes up the mass media’s take on the war –ravaged Columbia and allows us to see how three extraordinarily ordinary citizens can make a difference.”

Bruni Burres Human Rights Watch Film Festival

“A meditation on Columbian society…steeped in the culture and history of the country.”

Stephen Holden The New York Times

“Highly recommended. A potent, heartrending personal documentary…Reveals how a sense of belonging and hope for a better future can strengthen those who choose to remain in Columbia despite the violence.”

Sean Patrick Knowlton Educational Media Reviews Online

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Chicago Latino Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam (IDFA)
Doc Aviv International Documentary Film Festival
Hamptons International Film Festival
Banff Film Festival
Dok Fest (Munich Documentary Film Festival)
Austin Latin Film Festival
Cine de Las Americas Film Festival
Barcelona Human Rights International Film Festival
The Museum of Modern Art - Documentary Fortnight Exhibition
Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films
Femcine Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Adelaida Trujillo

Adelaida Trujillo studied anthropology in Colombia, and film and television direction and production in the UK, at the London International Film School and the BBC, also with a British Council scholarship. She worked for a year in the BBC's Music and Arts Department, as an associate producer and researcher for the series Made in Latin America, directed by award winning Mike Dibb.

Co-founder of Citurna, she has been involved in all the projects produced, either on the direction or production side. Adelaida is Vice President of the New Latin American Cinema Corporation based in Bogotá, member of the planning group for the Rockefeller Foundation's Communication for Social Change Network.

She keeps sane by combining "hard docs" with producing children's programs and raising her two kids, Pablo and Violeta, 7 and 5. (09/09)

Patricia Castaño

Filmmaker Patricia Castano attended school in her native Colombia, as well as in England and Holland, where she studied social work and rural communication. After intense experiences working in the Latin American countryside on socio-economic studies and development, Castaño fully committed herself to the field of documentary cinema and television. Thanks to an honorary scholarship from the British Council and her work in Colombia with the BBC and public and educative television, Castaño was able to study cinema and television with the BBC and the Open University of England.

Eventually, Castaño would found Citurna Productions. With the help of colleagues Doris Eder de Zambrano and Adelaida Trujillo, Castaño’s company has produced several documentary films including: La ley del Monte (Law of the Jungle), Seguimos adelante (Nothing Will Stop Us), Las otras guerras de la la cocaine (Behind the Cocaine Wars) and El mundo rotundo de Fernando Botero (The Rotund World o Fernando Botero). Each of these productions has been awarded with numerous international prizes. In addition to documentary direction, Castaño has been committed to environmental and educational topics in television production as well as children’s educational entertainment. Castaño was behind the development and production of Franja Metro, a successful daily program for children which airs on regional Bogotá television.

Since 2000, Patricia Castaño has been a member of the Board of directors of INPUT as well as the group of Latin American producers that promote Prix Jeunesse and the World Summit on Media for Children of the 2004 in Rio de Janeiro. Tune In To Kids, which Castaño executive produced in 2001, was awarded a special Emmy prize by UNICEF and the International Council of NATAS. (08/09)

Subject Areas

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