Inside the Atrato: a Film Project

Thanks to all the donations received, Inside the Atrato: A Film Project is a fully funded project! We are most grateful to all donors who have supported us. After two months of intense campaigning, it’s now time to give you an update on what has happened, how things are going and what we have planned for the coming months.

Colombian visual artist Fernando Arias has completed two different phases of filming the Atrato River. Accompanied by a biologist from Universidad de Quibdó (Chocó) Fernando was able to travel the River on water, following the route Quibdó, San José de la Calle, Bojayá and Ciénaga Marriaga to the Golfe of Urabá. Navigating these waters isn’t easy; many times cameras had to film incognito and the crew faced guerrilla and paramilitary checkpoints, which reflects the region’s brutal reality of armed conflict. Regardless of the difficulties, Fernando was able to gather very relevant footage and interviews for the making of this project. Thanks to this footage, for example, the scarcity of fish due to mercury poisoning has now real fishermen faces and voices that account for this serious environmental disaster.

Fernando was able to fly over the Atrato to film its meandering course. This footage will serve as inspiration for German artist and musician Robert Lippok, to compose a unique music piece, created specifically to be played while the three-screen video is shown. At the moment, the rough cut of the film is being revised by Robert so he can work on directions for the sound. The following steps are: working on the sound and towards a final cut, which will be premiered in the National Museum of Colombia in November, in the context of SINFONÍA TRÓPICO’s 2015 festival in Bogotá.