Steve's sandbox

Tag: Bogota

  • La inauguración de la nueva cinemateca de Bogotá; Patrick Longmate, Colombia – August 2019

    La inauguración de la nueva cinemateca de Bogotá

    Con la ambición fuerte de mejorar mi nivel de español en cualquier manera que fuera posible, y con ganas de conocer más sobre Colombia y el continente de América Latina a través del cine, me puse muy feliz al enterarme de la reciente inauguración de la cinemateca de Bogotá, la cual queda a la vuelta de la esquina de mi vivienda universitaria en la carrera 3ª con calle 19.  La nueva cinemateca se inauguró el 13 de Junio y alberga 3 salas de proyección,  la más grande llamada la ‘Capital’ con un foro de 272 personas .

    Aproveché este gran complejo de vanguardia durante el mes de Julio y entre las películas que vi, las mas destacadas fueron ‘Los reyes’ (Bettina Perut,  Iván Osnovikoff, 2018 ) y ‘Temblores’  (Jayro Bustamante, 2019). Los reyes’ se enfocó en dos perros del skatepark más antiguo de Santiago de Chile, pero a través de voces fuera del cuadro, la película contó historias cómicas y tristes de adolescentes marginales, así que logró que fuera muy emocionante tanto a nivel social como animal. Por otro lado, ‘Temblores,’ de Jayro Bustamante, contó la historia de un padre guatemalteco expulsado de su familia al descubrir su homosexualidad. Después de ver la película, asistí una discusión de panel con el director y me atreví a plantear una pregunta sobre los desafíos de grabar una película queer – ¡Bustamante me contestó que lo más difícil era grabar escenas de coito homosexual con dos actores heterosexuales! A partir del 1 de Agosto en el ‘Ciclo Rosa’ habrá una selección queer del Berlinale 2019, con el objetivo de abrir ‘un espacio para revisar temas como sexualidad y género desde una perspectiva abierta y crítica,’  según Juliana Restrepo, directora del Instituto Distrital de las Artes (Idartes).

    Además de la amplia gama de películas contemporáneas y estrenos colombianos (‘Homo botanicus,’ ‘El piedra’), la cinemateca dedicó su temporada inaugural a los clásicos del cine latinoamericano, incluso ‘Memorias del subdesarrollo’ (Gutiérrez Alea, 1968) que narra la revolución cubana desde la perspectiva del protagonista narcisista y voyerista, Sergio. Estas películas clásicas confirman un aspecto importante de la cinemateca: preservar el acervo cinemático del país y continente. La cinemateca no es solo una sala de cine, sino más bien una cuna de la memoria fílmica, y según Paula Villegas, gerente del Idartes, es ‘un espacio donde se siente…la energía de lo que ha pasado.’ Más allá de su selección de películas, el propósito archivo de la cinemateca se manifiesta en su biblioteca donde académicos, estudiantes y miembros del público pueden encontrar ‘un punto de consulta para sus investigaciones.’ De hecho,la nueva cinemateca cuenta con colecciones que superan 50.000 unidades bibliográficas, hemerográficas, fotográficas, iconográficas, gráficas, sonoras y audiovisuales. La entrada de la biblioteca es gratis, y eso representa la accesibilidad de la cinemateca, ‘un espacio para todos,’ según Juliana Restrepo.  Los boletos para películas son baratos ($5.000 para el tiquete general y $4.000 para adultos mayores y estudiantes) y hay una gama de actividades, discusiones y talleres gratuitos. Además, es evidente que la nueva sede ha sido diseñada para tener en cuenta a las familias, pues hay un parqueadero subterráneo  y una sala juvenil que se llama la ‘objetoteca’  en la cual ocurrirán talleres de creación e ideas. También existe el Salón Rayito para niños entre los 0 y 5 años, que busca el desarrollo de actividades de exploración con imagen y sonido.  La arquitectura del edificio también reafirma que la cinemateca no es un espacio exclusivo, ni un punto de encuentro solo para la intelligentsia del mundo del cine: debido a planificación prudente, el edifico se integra con el espacio público de la ciudad y su arquitectura abierta ofusca las fronteras entre fuera y dentro. Por eso, la nueva cinemateca, en poco tiempo, se ha convertido en un referente de la ciudad y ha logrado su propósito de ‘vincular al público y fortalecer esa relación de los ciudadanos con las artes audiovisuales,’ según Paula Villegas.

    Sentado en la antigua cinemateca de Bogotá en 2013, el difunto cineasta Abbas Kiarostami afirmó que ‘lo primero que hago cuando llego a una cuidad es buscar su cinemateca o una biblioteca. Esos lugares son las embajadas se una patria.’ Si el director mediático iraní tiene razón, la nueva cinemateca no solo representa la amplificación de la producción cinematográfica de Colombia sino también la consolidación de Bogotá como el epicentro cultural del país y continente.

     

     

    The Inauguration of the New Cinemateca de Bogotá

    With a strong ambition to improve my Spanish in whatever way possible, and with a desire to learn more about Colombia and Latin America through cinema, I was delighted to learn of the recent inauguration of the Cinemateca de Bogotá, a cinema and public film archive located a stone’s throw from my university accommodation on carrera 3ª,calle 19.  The new cinemateca was inaugurated on the 13thof July and houses 3 screening rooms, the largest of which is called ‘La Capital’ with a capacity of 272 people.

    I made the most of this avant-garde facility throughout the month of July and the most notable of the films which I saw were ‘Los reyes’ (Bettina Perut, Iván Osnovikoff, 2018 ) and ‘Temblores’ (Jayro Bustamante, 2019). Los Reyes centred on two dogs living in Santiago’s oldest skate park, but through the use of off-screen voices, the film told comic but sad stories of peripheral youths, making the film moving on both animal and social levels. On the other hand, Bustamante’s ‘Temblores’ told the story of a Guatemalan father expelled by his family upon discovering his homosexuality. After the film, I attended a panel discussion with the director and plucked up the courage to ask a question (in Spanish!!) about the challenges of filming a queer film. Bustamante replied that the most difficult thing was filming gay sex scenes with two straight actors! From 1st August, in the cinemateca’s ‘Ciclo Rosa,’ there will be a selection of queer films from this year’s Berlinale, with the objective of opening ‘a space to consider issues relating to gender and sexuality from a critical and open perspective,’ according to Juliana Restrepo, director of the Instituto Distrital de las Artes (Idartes).

    In addition to the wide range of contemporary films and Colombian premières (‘Homo botanicus,’ ‘El piedra’), the cinemateca dedicated its first cycle of films to Latin American classics, including ‘Memorias del subdesarrollo’(Gutiérrez Alea, 1968) which narrates the Cuban Revolution through the perspective of its voyeuristic, narcissistic protagonist, Sergio. These classics reflect an important aim of the cinemateca: to preserve the cinematic heritage of country and continent. The cinemateca isn’t only a cinema, but also a cradle of filmic memory, and according to Paula Villegas, manager of Idartes, it is ‘a space where one feels the energy of what has passed.’ Beyond its selection of films, the archival function of the cinemateca is manifested in its library, where students, academics and members of the public can find a point of consultation for their research. In fact, the new cinemateca houses over 50,000 bibliographical, periodical, photographical, iconographical, graphical and audio-visual resources. Entrance to the library is free, making it accessible, and thus supporting Juliana Retrespo’s claim that the cinemateca is ‘a space for all.’ Ticket prices for the films are cheap, COL $5,000 (£1.25) for a standard ticket or COL $4,000 (£1) for students and the elderly, and there are a range of free activities, discussions and workshops. Moreover, it is clear that the new headquarters has been designed with families in mind – it has a basement car park and a children’s room called the ‘objetoteca’ which hosts creative workshops. There is also the Salón Rayito for infants, which hosts sound and image exploration activities. The architecture of the building also makes it clear that the cinemateca isn’t an exclusive space or simply a meeting point for the intelligentsia of cinema: due to careful planning, the building is integrated with the public space of the city and its open plan architecture obfuscates the boundaries between outside and inside. For this reason, the new cinemateca, in a short space of time, has become a reference point of the city and has achieved its aim of ‘strengthening the relationship between Bogota’s citizens and the audio-visual arts,’ according to Paula Villegas.

    Sat in the old Cinemateca de Bogotá in 2013, the now deceased filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami stated that ‘the first thing I do when I arrive in a city is look for its cinemateca or a library. Those places are the embassies of a country.’ If the famous Iranian director is right, the new cinemateca not only represents the broadening of Colombia’s cinematographic production, but also the consolidation of Bogota as the cultural epicentre of the country and the continent.

  • Georgia Dolan: Case Study – Colombia, 2016

    In April this year, I was fortunate to receive a John Speak Scholarship.

    I initially arrived in the capital, Bogota, to begin my four month Scholarship in Colombia. Having been heavily influenced by the media and western perceptions of Colombia, and particularly that of my parents’ generation, I landed in the airport slightly terrified.  The fear I had after I landed in Bogota was insane, Colombia has a bad reputation, but I had no problems at all! Bogota is a city of 8.8 million people, but unlike London, it has suffered incredible urban sprawl, and is stretched out for miles on a plateau in the Andes Mountains. From Bogota I moved quickly onto Santa Marta, my home for the next four months.  Santa Marta is a city on the Caribbean coast and capital of the department of Magdalena, it also happens to be the oldest colonial city in South America.

    The country is like any big European city, if you take care and “no dar papaya” (Colombian slang: not to put yourself into a dangerous situation) by not getting expensive phones out in the street at night, or walking alone after a night out etc. then you are sure to pass your time there with no problems at all.

    my-home-for-the-duration-of-the-scholarship-santa-marta

    The additional funds from the Scholarship gave me the opportunity to study more, travel and to do voluntary work with a grassroots foundation called Colombia sin Fronteras, based in Valle de Gaira on the outskirts of the city in a largely poor area.

    This hugely supported my Spanish learning and motivated me to find a local to live with and improve my Spanish by writing the blogs every month; a real asset in improving my language skills for a future career in translation.

    overlooking-medellin-from-a-viewpoint

    Many of the people Valle de Gaira have been displaced from neighbouring cities by the last civil war, but there was a great sense of community which is largely to do with the foundation.  I worked primarily with the children of the area, as a supplement to the schooling system which is further away.  There were around 50/60 children who attended the foundation divided into age and ability groups.  The volunteers tended to run classes based on primary subjects in Spanish such as, maths, reading and writing, with English classes in the evening for the older children and they relied heavily on sport to keep the children occupied.

    At first the language barrier was difficult, at the time I hadn’t been learning Spanish for very long and the variations in accents that I came across were staggering. Studying abroad certainly gave me a wider scope of Spanish variations to look at – the differences between language used on the Iberian Peninsula compared to Latin America, and the within Latin America is crazy.

    at-pueblito-paisa-in-medellin
    in-barranquilla-for-the-ecuador-vs-colombia-match

    Receiving the Scholarship allowed me to travel and get to know the Colombian culture. One trip I made at the beginning of May was to Medellin, Colombia’s second and fastest growing city. Having already seen Bogota, I knew what to expect from a large South American metropolis, with barrio’s sprawling out towards the mountains and high rises springing up awkwardly in the centre. Medellin sits much like Bogota between the mountains and has a temperate climate which is often referred to as the ‘eternal spring’, warmer towards the south and cooler further up the mountains. What struck me about Medellin was the sense of modernity, a place which has benefited recently from a lot of investment and a huge increase in tourism, with parks, museums and commercial centres in development across the entire city.

    Back in the United Kingdom, I continue to make friends and learn about the Spanish culture that I encountered in Colombia, also practicing with the few Spanish friends I already have. Plus it makes a great excuse to try jet off to Barcelona for the weekend (for practice of course!).

    in-cartagena-looking-at-the-colonial-buildings

    I love Spanish and continue to speak the language using it wherever possible – trying to find Spanish enclaves within the UK.  Luckily Manchester makes that pretty easy, it’s popular with Spanish speakers.

    I would hugely recommend the John Speak Trust; it has been an incredible support whilst being in South America.  I never thought I would be able to afford to live in such a beautiful faraway place, even for only a short amount of time.

    The Scholarship meant that I didn’t have to struggle to find paid work whilst abroad and the voluntary experience was second to none, I am so grateful, thank you!

     

    Georgia Dolan

     

  • Georgia Dolan- Colombia, July 2016

    Hola buenas a todos!

    Casi he terminado mi periodo acá en Colombia – es mi cuarto mes y me siento como si fuera colombiana – la verdad es que ha sido un reto. Yo se recomendaría a ustedes este país hermoso ya que nunca he tenido una experiencia tan rica que fue tan llena del sol en mi vida corta y ya he aprendido tanto sobre el idioma (y claro sigo aprendiendo) sobre la cultura, la historia y por fin sobre el cambio del país. Sin embargo, debido a que el idioma ha sido la cosa más importante en mi tiempo pasado en Colombia – y una de las cosas más difíciles – quise que hoy escriba un poquito de como he ido con el lenguaje.

    Cuando llegué en marzo en la costa, no esperaba tener tantas dificultades con el idioma – claro no tuve mucha fluidez al hablar, y había olvidado un parte de mi vocabulario, PERO también fui optimista. Pronto me di cuenta que mis correos electrónicos y mensajes de WhatsApp no eran tan útil en esta parte del mundo y que eventualmente tendría que conversar con alguien en vivo si quería encontrar un apartamento. Lo que no esperaba fue el acento del norte del país, en la costa que se llama costeño. En la universidad en Inglaterra, yo estaba acostumbrada al castellano de España, por lo que cuando llegué en Bogotá, sí yo noté una gran diferencia en el acento por supuesto, pero ahí no es tan ininteligible como puede ser a veces acá, pero de todos modos me puse nerviosa. Como se encuentra en toda Latinoamérica, los costeños usan el seseo mientras que se quitan también el ‘s’ al mitad y final de la palabra casi siempre. Aunque las cosas que fueron – y realmente se quedan – las más frustrante en mi opinión, eran las palabras coloquiales/ la jerga.

    Keider y Loraine

    Cuando encuentre unos amigos colombianos, naturalmente se siente feliz porque tiene una vista a la vida colombiana “real”, sin embargo, en realidad se crea un montón problemas complicados.  Ya sabía que tenía problemas con el vocabulario español, pero mejoraban mientras yo entendía más… no me di cuenta que iba a escuchar y entender una conversación perfectamente hasta que habría UNA PALABRA que me vuelve al punto de partida – que confuso!

    ENGLISH:
    I have almost finished my time here in Colombia – it is my fourth month and I feel as if I were a Colombian, honestly it has been a challenge. I would recommend this beautiful country to you as I have never had such a rich experience so full of sunshine in my short life and I have already learnt so much about the language (and I am still learning clearly), about the culture, the history and finally the change in the country.  However, because the language has been the most important thing about my time here in Colombia, and one of the most difficult things, I wanted to write a little about how it’s been going.

    When I arrived on the coast in March, I wasn’t expecting to have so many difficulties with the language – I didn’t really have much fluency and I had forgotten a lot of my vocabulary BUT I was optimistic about it. Soon I realised that my emails and whatsapp messages weren’t as useful in this part of the world and eventually I would actually have to speak to someone if I wanted to find an apartment. What I wasn’t expecting was the accent from the north of the country on the coast, which is called costeno. At university in England, I was accustomed to Castilian from Spain, so when I arrived in Bogota, I did of course notice a big difference, but it wasn’t as unintelligible there as it can be here sometimes, but anyway it made me nervous. Like it is found in the whole of Latin America, the costenos use the seseo whilst also almost always skipping central and word final ‘s’s. Although in my opinion, the thing that was – and actually remains- the most frustrating point, is the slang.

    When you find Colombian friends, naturally you feel happy because you have a look into real Colombian life, yet in reality it creates a lot of complicated issues. I thought that I had problems with Spanish vocabulary but they were improving as I understood more, I didn’t realise that I would be listening and understanding a conversation perfectly until there would be one word which would send me right back to square one – so confusing!