Bicentenario

Synopsis

On the 200th anniversary of Simon Bolivar’s liberation journey across Colombia, Bicentenario reflects on the far-reaching consequences of the Liberator’s legacy, a legacy kept alive through a wide range of intentional and unintentional rituals of remembrance. Summoning Bolivar’s spirit in the exact landscapes that witnessed the battles, Bicentenario reveals the contemporary social rituals that perpetuate the ongoing violence residing deep within the social and political unconscious. Two Hundred years after his campaign, Simon Bolivar’s spirit and legacy has become a mix of political mysticism, unquestioned doctrine and enigma - or perhaps a curse that has fixed itself in the collective imaginary of an entire continent. It is this curse that Bicentenario seeks to invoke, and perhaps exorcise.

Director Biography

Pablo is a filmmaker and camera person working mainly in documentary. His films have played at international film festivals including Rotterdam, Camden IFF, Hot Docs, Visions du Reel, and RIDM. His credits include PRESIDIO MODELO (2009) winning the Best Experimental Student Film Award at Montreal FF. JELENA'S SONG (2010), which he created with the National Film Board of Canada; and the short documentaries CUANDO SUENA EL CLARÍN (2012), SPEAKING INTO THE AIR (2015) International FF Rotterdam and LA PESCA (2017) which was the winner for best short at Visions du Reel. Alvarez-Mesa holds a BFA at Simon Fraser University and an MFA in Film Production from Concordia University.