This documentary is a summary of the conflict and social drama in Colombia, reflected in the festivity of the Virgen de las Mercedes which is celebrated with a beauty contest inside the country's women prisons.
-
Documentary short film Nominated for the Oscars 2008.
-
Honorable Mention at Sundance 2008.
The Crown (52 min)
CASTING:
THE BUYER
Oscar Lizalda
LIEUTENANT ROJAS
Jorge Vargas
CHOIR
Alvaro Caicedo
Jicelly Rosendo
Nichols Hurtado
MUSICIANS
Yeraldine Hurtado
John Eric Ibarguen
Wicho (Wilmer Vente)
Jessica Góngora
CAST AND CREW PRODUCTION:
Dessu Productions
CO PRODUCERS
Film Projection
rolling casting
International Hangar
Ivan Onatra
Enrique Garzon
Kiru Group
SUPPORTED BY
Colombian cinematographic development Fund FDC
SCRIPT AND DIRECTION
Maritza white
ASSOCIATED PRODUCERS
National Training Service SENA
Juanchaco Community Council
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Michael Dean
Gabriel Vargas (second unit)
ART DIRECTION
Angela Bravo
Vanessa Vargas (second unit)
POST PRODUCTION
Bandera
DIRECT SOUND
Jose Jairo Florez.
MUSIC
Santiago Lozano (incidental music).
Eryen Korath/ (Songs of the Pacific)
(Songs and traditional music).
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Erlin and Sharel Rivera /The Soldiers
(Songs at the bar).
EDITING
Andres Porras ECCA
SOUND DESIGN
La Tina Sonido
CASTING:
MARIANA
Eryen Korath Ortiz
GRANDFATHER
Belisario Albornoz
THOMAS
Byron Castillo
DIEGO
Sharel (Andres Rivera)
NELSON
Erlin Rivera
Mr. ELEGANTE
Juan Pablo Solano
Synopsis:
Mariana (17) (granddaughter of Afro-descendant fishermen from an ancestral community), trying to save her little brother’s life, spends the money she and her grandfather have been saving for many years meant to pay the tuition fee for the medical school she dreams to attend. Fighting to get her future back, she looks for a job and tries to negotiate financing agreements with the school. Desperate, she contacts the young people from her town who collect packs of cocaine that float in the sea (those thrown to the sea by their carriers when they are besieged by the police), to take her fishing with them. Mariana picks up a forbidden merchandise in the region, which she will have to negotiate directly with its owner, Mr Elegante (a capo from the country’s interior) who threats her and her grandfather’s life to keep her at his service. She is also sentenced to death by the local mafias for helping their enemy. Mariana will have to escape far away, with the uncertainty of her grandfather's future.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
FAM Mercosur 2020 Best fiction feature film
In official competition:
-
FICCALI 2020,
-
FESSALP 2020,
-
Quibdó África Film Festival 2021
Invited to:
-
Sincelejo Film Festival 2021, Colombia.
-
Santa Fe de Antioquia Film Festival 2021, Colombia.
-
Chicago Latino Film Festival 2022.
As a project:
-
Post Production FDC Winner 2018.
-
Winner of the stimulus for development Ibermedia 2010,
-
Silver Award at the El Ojo De Iberoamérica International Festival awarded to the graphic designer Iván Onatra.
-
Invited to Tribeca lab Bogotá 2014, Crossing Borders Argentina 2013, Cartagena Meetings 2014. BAM 2014 and 2016.
Catching the White Tuna (75min)
At 24 years old, Edward Hernandez was just 27 inches high. In 2010 his life changed drastically when he was officially declared the smallest man in the world. The media excitement was immediate, people greeted him everywhere and showed him affection. They wanted to pick him up, touch him and take pictures with him.
He was invited to the presidential palace and became a hit on the Latin American TV shows circuit. But after a few weeks of being awarded, he got bad news. In Nepal, the smallest teenager in the world is about to turn 18 years old and Edward’s title is in danger.
-
A Ronachan Films production for the BBC UK
-
Co-produced by Nick Read y Dessu Productions.
27 Inch Man (TV). (52 min)
CASTING:
CARMEN
Maria Fernanda Ardila
CHRISTINE
Sara Cortes
POLICE INSPECTOR
Rafa Taibo
PAOLA
Ana Maria Espin-Lanz
MANUEL
Raul Cabrera
SCRIPT AND DIRECTION
Maritza white
ASSOCIATED PRODUCERS
Jorge Vargas
Sandra Tabares-Duque
Mauricio Aristzabal
Rafa Taibo
Alba Roan Flower
Richard Cordoba
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Diego Jimenez
ART DIRECTION
Angela Bravo
DIRECT SOUND
Jose Jairo Florez.
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Alejandro Ramirez-Rojas
FIELD PRODUCER
Juan Carrasquilla
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
paola white
EDITING
Etienne Boussac
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Ivan Onatra
CAST & CREW
PRODUCTION
Dessu Productions
Nathalie Choquette
CO PRODUCERS
Ivan Onatra
Hangar Films
La Tina Sonido
SUPPORTED BY
RCN Cine- Ennovva
Colombian cinematographic development Fund FDC
Distrital University Francisco José de Caldas. ASAB College of Arts.
MAKEUP DESIGN
Alejandra Martinez
COSTUME DESIGN
Anny Ángel
FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Mónica Hernández / Marisol Galindo
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Jorge Vargas
SOUND DESIGN AND MIX
La Tina Sound- Andres Silva / Manuel José Gordillo / Alejandro Uribe-Holguín
La Toma (The Siege) (88 min)
Synopsis:
La Toma reconstructs the events occurred during the siege of Colombia’s Palace of Justice in November 1985 by the M19 guerrilla and the retaking by the military, through various testimonies of the agents involved: victims, lawyers, soldiers, guerrillas and government representatives from that time. From their current perspective, they tell their truth to the world about these events
26 years after the siege of Colombia’s Palace of Justice, this documentary details the tragedy minutiae and its consequences.
Commissioned by ICTJ of NY. Produced by Pivot Pictures USA. La Milagrosa, Dessu Productions Colombia & The Boom South Africa
Directed by the twice Oscar nominee Angus Gibson (South Africa) and multi-award winner Miguel Salazar (Colombia).
Co-produced by Ennova Cine-RCN Colombia, ZDF Germany.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
-
Official Competition Cartagena Film Festival, Colombia 2011,
-
Human Rights Watch,
-
International Human Rights Film Festival IT.
-
Mar del Plata Film Festival,
-
Global Watch Film
-
Jacob Burns Film Center in New York.
Productions
CAST & CREW
PRODUCTION
Pivot Pictures USA
Dessu Productions Colombia
CO-PRODUCERS
Producciones La Esperanza Colombia
Boom Shelter South Africa
RCN Ennova Colombia
Pumpernickel. France
DIRECTION:
Angus Gibson and Miguel Salazar
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Mauricio Vidal
DIRECT SOUND:
Jose Jairo Flores
Caroline of the Sea
SUPPORTED BY
Colombian cinematographic development Fund FDC
ZDF in cooperation with Arte
PRODUCERS
Bruni Burres
david jammy
maritza white
Michael Salazar
EDITING
Megan Gill
MUSIC
Camilo Sanabria
SOUND DESIGN
Alejandro Gomez Upegui
PRODUCERS
Angus maqueen
Helen Littleboy
DIRECTION
Nick Read
SCRIPT AND DIRECTION
PRODUCTION
Ronachan Films UK
Nick Read
CASTING
Edwar Niño and family
CO-PRODUCERS
Maritza Blanco - Dessu Productions
MUSIC
Camara Kambon
CAST & CREW
PRODUCTION
Runaway FilmsUSA
Elizabeth Vega
HBO documentary Films
PRODUCERS
amanda michelle
Elizabeth Vega
ASSOCIATED PRODUCERS
Maritza Blanco- Dessu Productions
louis hill
DIRECTION
Amanda Micheli & Isabel Vega
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Amanda Micheli & Isabel Vega
EDITION
louis hill
Did you see Cristina on March 7?
(15 minutes)
Synopsis:
A case of intolerance and bullying in adolescents based on real-life events.
When the police inspector asks Carmen about Cristina's death, many memories come to her mind: the humiliations received from her classmates due to her foreign accent and imperfect physical appearance, the pictures of Cristina kissing the boy she likes and the loneliness.
Carmen was with Cristina on March 7th on the city outskirts, but she wonders, what that meeting had to do with Cristina’s death?
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:
-
Best fiction short film at the Women's Cinema festival of the Fundación Mujer es Audiovisual. Colombia 2013
-
In official competition at the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias FICCI 2013. Barranquilla International Film Festival FICBAQ 2014. Nominated for best short in the ANAFE 2014 selection.
Invited to:
-
WMM Women's Film Festival, Interfilms Germany, Tamper Film Festival USA, Danish Film Institute Denmark Festival.
-
Selection of Colombian short films from Proimagenes Colombia and from the promotional collection of the Colombian Ministry of Culture.