The opening scene of “La Sierra” shows a man lying face up at the bottom of a hillside cliff, dead from a shot to the chest. The victim’s girlfriend and relatives wail as a storekeeper offers a simple explanation for the situation: “The guys from there kill the guys from here because they’re from here and the guys from here kill the guys from there because they’re from there.”
The stage is set for a documentary that chronicles the desperate cycle of poverty and violence in Colombia. The turmoil has been brought about by a war that has lasted 40 years and has led to more than 35,000 casualities.
The film focuses on three people: Edison Florez, the commander of a gang-styled paramilitary unit; Cielo Munoz, a 15-year-old widow who survives by selling candy on a bus; and Jesus Martinez, another paramilitary member, who lost a hand when a homemade bomb prematurely exploded.
Rather than showing the political unrest of Colombia, the film instead centers on the everyday lives of the three main individuals, their families and their dreams. Florez candidly discusses how he came to a life of violence, his many girlfriends, his illegitimate children and his melancholy acceptance of his fate. Munoz, in addition to being a young widow of a paramilitary member, now has a boyfriend who is in prison for paramilitary-related crimes and has no other means of support besides what sweets she sells on a bus. Martinez is a reluctant paramilitary member with no other prospects for his future. His biggest fear is not getting to see his son grow up.
“I really didn’t think anyone, let alone an American filmmaker, could accomplish something like this – literally making the movie in the line of fire at an enormous personal risk,” said Dag Mossige, a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science.
“You tend to get lost in living and going to college and then you see these situations are much worse,” said Jason Schneider, a senior majoring in microbiology.
“We do expect pretty solid numbers for students and the public at large, especially this one, it’s received tremendous acclaim and allows a glimpse of another part of the world we ordinarily may not have access to,” said Erik Pepple, spokesman for the Wexner Center for the Arts.
“La Sierra” is one of many films shown under the “Cinema Tropical” distributors, a nonprofit organization that is committed to exhibiting and promoting Latin American cinema in the United States, usually in major cities, like New York City or Chicago, and art venues, such as the Wexner Center. A lot of these films would not be distributed in America otherwise.
The movie is part of the “Cinema Tropical” series. Another movie from the series, “Days of Santiago,” will be shown at the Wexner Center on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. Student tickets are $4.
