Open Mountain

by Maria Rojas Arias
La Vulcanizadora co-production
Documentary, 47”, 16mm transfer 4K, colors

On July 19, 1929, in a town in Colombia, a group of shoemakers fought to improve living and working conditions in the country. They called themselves The Bolsheviks of Líbano Tolima. Their revolution lasted only one day, and its traces were almost completely lost. The women of this village share with Aura, an anarchist grandmother, a feeling that their rebellion is still going on. 

  • Written and directed by: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Direction of Photograohy: Maria Rojas Arias and Andrés Jurado
  • Art Direction: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Music: Sara Fernández and Lucrecia Dalt
  • Sound: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Sound design: Maria Rojas Arias, Julian Galay and Andrés Jurado
  • Graphic design: Pablo Baresch
  • Color grading: Gonçalo Ferreira and Irma Lucia Efeitos
  • Production: La Vulcanizadora – Andrés Jurado
  • Co-production: Kintop –  Rui Ribeiro and Ansgar Schaefer
  • [2021] . International Short Film Festival Kinoforum Brazil. (São Paulo, Brazil). Winner: Best Short Film – LIMITE.
  • [2021] Valdivia International Film Festival. (Valdivia, Chile). Winner: Best Latin American Short Film.
  • [2021] Ji.hlava Inernational Documentary Film Festival. (Czech Republic). Winner: Short Joy.
  • [2021] Muestra Internacional de Documental de Bogotá MIDBO (Colombia) 
  • [2021] VI Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo. CÁMARA LÚCIDA. 
  • [2021] Al-Este FF. (Medellín. Colombia). Winner: Best Short Film
  • [2021] Festival de Documental de Villa de Leyva. (Villa de Leyva, Colombia). Winner: Mejor cortometraje documental.
  • [2021] Bogoshorts- Festival de cortos de Bogotá. (Bogotá, Colombia).
  • [2021] Beijing International Short Film Festival (BISFF)
  • [2021] FICUNAM. Festival internacional de cine de la UNAM. (México)
  • [2022] Oberhausen. International Short Film Festival. (Oberhausen, Alemania). 
  • [2022] Essay Film Festival. ICA. (London, UK)
  • [2022] Art of the real. Film at Lincoln Center. (New York, United States)
  • [2022] Documenta Madrid (Madrid, España)
  • [2022] VI International Documentary Film Festival AricaDoc. Chile.
  • [2022] Film-och Kulturfestivalen Latinamerika i Fokus i Malmö.
  • [2022] XIV FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE CALI /FICCALI. Colombia 
  • [2022] 14 Festival de Cine Corto de Popayán. Colombia
  • [2022] MAMUT Festival de Memoria Audiovisual. Medellín. Colombia
  • [2022] PACCPA X Panorama de cine colombiano de París. France.
  • [2022] 27th edition of Linea d’Ombra Festival. Salerno. Italy.

(1994, Colombia) Visual artist and filmmaker, graduated from KASK, School of Arts Gent, Belgium. Her audiovisual work and installations are developed using moving images. She works with official and unofficial archival materials seeking to articulate in an expanded way how to present realities related to specific events of the past. These may be national speeches, war policies, the foundation, and colonization of spaces, among others. Her previous short films include FU (2018) and LA CASA LOCA (2016). In 2019, she received a Next Generation grant from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development.

Synopsis

On July 19, 1929, in a town in Colombia, a group of shoemakers fought to improve living and working conditions in the country. They called themselves The Bolsheviks of Líbano Tolima. Their revolution lasted only one day, and its traces were almost completely lost. The women of this village share with Aura, an anarchist grandmother, a feeling that their rebellion is still going on. 

Credits
  • Written and directed by: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Direction of Photograohy: Maria Rojas Arias and Andrés Jurado
  • Art Direction: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Music: Sara Fernández and Lucrecia Dalt
  • Sound: Maria Rojas Arias
  • Sound design: Maria Rojas Arias, Julian Galay and Andrés Jurado
  • Graphic design: Pablo Baresch
  • Color grading: Gonçalo Ferreira and Irma Lucia Efeitos
  • Production: La Vulcanizadora – Andrés Jurado
  • Co-production: Kintop –  Rui Ribeiro and Ansgar Schaefer
Festivals & Screenings
  • [2021] . International Short Film Festival Kinoforum Brazil. (São Paulo, Brazil). Winner: Best Short Film – LIMITE.
  • [2021] Valdivia International Film Festival. (Valdivia, Chile). Winner: Best Latin American Short Film.
  • [2021] Ji.hlava Inernational Documentary Film Festival. (Czech Republic). Winner: Short Joy.
  • [2021] Muestra Internacional de Documental de Bogotá MIDBO (Colombia) 
  • [2021] VI Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo. CÁMARA LÚCIDA. 
  • [2021] Al-Este FF. (Medellín. Colombia). Winner: Best Short Film
  • [2021] Festival de Documental de Villa de Leyva. (Villa de Leyva, Colombia). Winner: Mejor cortometraje documental.
  • [2021] Bogoshorts- Festival de cortos de Bogotá. (Bogotá, Colombia).
  • [2021] Beijing International Short Film Festival (BISFF)
  • [2021] FICUNAM. Festival internacional de cine de la UNAM. (México)
  • [2022] Oberhausen. International Short Film Festival. (Oberhausen, Alemania). 
  • [2022] Essay Film Festival. ICA. (London, UK)
  • [2022] Art of the real. Film at Lincoln Center. (New York, United States)
  • [2022] Documenta Madrid (Madrid, España)
  • [2022] VI International Documentary Film Festival AricaDoc. Chile.
  • [2022] Film-och Kulturfestivalen Latinamerika i Fokus i Malmö.
  • [2022] XIV FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE CALI /FICCALI. Colombia 
  • [2022] 14 Festival de Cine Corto de Popayán. Colombia
  • [2022] MAMUT Festival de Memoria Audiovisual. Medellín. Colombia
  • [2022] PACCPA X Panorama de cine colombiano de París. France.
  • [2022] 27th edition of Linea d’Ombra Festival. Salerno. Italy.
Maria Rojas Arias

(1994, Colombia) Visual artist and filmmaker, graduated from KASK, School of Arts Gent, Belgium. Her audiovisual work and installations are developed using moving images. She works with official and unofficial archival materials seeking to articulate in an expanded way how to present realities related to specific events of the past. These may be national speeches, war policies, the foundation, and colonization of spaces, among others. Her previous short films include FU (2018) and LA CASA LOCA (2016). In 2019, she received a Next Generation grant from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development.

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