PORT

Puerto is Federico's first fiction film based on an original story and therefore, closer to his heart. It takes place in a small Colombian Caribbean town that mirrors the soul of Colombia.

Director's Statement:

“Port” “Puerto” came out of the necessity to tell a story about a character from “Savannah,” a feature film I’ve been developing for a while. I was looking for a situation to change this character’s life forever.

Suddenly I read a short article about some hospital waste that was appearing on the beaches of Puerto
Colombia, a town very close to Barranquilla, where I live.
The image of syringes and testing tubes on the sand of a beach, usually crowded on the weekends, and the impact it was having on tourism, made me think of the environmental problems often ignored by Colombian politicians and the media because an issue is only necessary to them when is relevant to their own interests.

The presence of syringes and testing tubes on the otherwise popular beach on weekends, and its repercussions on tourism, made me consider the environmental issues often neglected by Colombian politicians and the media, as they generally only prioritize matters that are in their own best interests.
As I talked to journalists that have worked in a local newspaper, I learned about how the media shut down or fired any journalist that tried to investigate matters that would expose the corruption of the city’s elite ruling class. The more I researched and observed how this city works, the more I realized that the media had been making people utterly oblivious to their real problems, focusing their attention on other types of news or information that made the politicians look good.
As a result, making people feel like everything is ok. On the other hand, newly constructed condos and vacation resorts are being built in many parts of the Colombian Caribbean coast, and behind that, a massive displacement of local communities that had to sell their land because of many problems like poverty, violence, environmental issues, etc. Sometimes even resort to bribing people inside their own communities. Of course, the issues differ in many places, but the results are usually the same. Therefore, I started to write this short film that would show us Miguel as a young, ambitious journalist that tries to face all this corruption in search of his recognition but ends up condemning Rosa, the woman he’s trying to help.
A story about the self-proclaimed saviour who ruins everything because his ambition doesn’t allow him to care about the danger his actions cast on other people.