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Cholq'ij

The short film Cholq'ij is a tribute to the calendar of the same name, used in Guatemala by the Mayan indigenous communities. It is an animation made with chalk drawing a symbol of the Nawal per day. It featured the music of the Palchucán group from the Colombian Putumayo region.

  • Pablo Gutierrez Beltran
    Director
  • Pablo Gutierrez Beltran
    Writer
  • Pablo Gutierrez Beltran
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    2 minutes 39 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 6, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Colombia
  • Country of Filming:
    Colombia
  • Shooting Format:
    digital celular
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Pablo Gutierrez Beltran

Colombian audiovisual producer, graduated as an audiovisual director of the Black Maria film school in Bogotá (2009). His first works focused on the documentary, linked to artistic projects with social impact. Since 2010 he works in animation using the stop motion technique; since then he has made the short films: Chirriadísimo (2010), DNA stop motion (2010), La Pileta (2011), El Mono Ardilla (2011), The Land of Columbus bathes in the blood of heroes (2011). EMBRION (2019). Ama Amanecer (2020). Haunted House (2021 or Balam IQ)

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Director Statement

Cholq'ij is born from the need to search for different narratives of the way we deal with counting time. Finding myself with the worldview of the indigenous Mayans of the highlands of Guatemala, I decided to make this tribute by recording the daily count of the Nawales (sacred energy of night and day). As a working method, the animation was carried out parallel to the passing of the days, that is, every day in the morning the animation of the corresponding Nawal was carried out, which was painted with colored chalk, the capture of images was made through of a cell phone. Patiently, the account and registration of each Nawal was kept, creating the rhythm of the passing of the days, showing the way in which time is recorded in Guatemalan communities. The sound was made by the Palchucan group from the Putumayo region in Colombia.