Experiencing Interruptions?

Girls of Uchituu

Sonia and Yelitza are two indigenous girls that grow under the influence of a foreign world that threatens the permanence of their ancestral wayuu traditions.

  • Helena Salguero Vélez
    Director
  • Helena Salguero Vélez
    Writer
  • Brilly Cáceres
    Producer
  • Felipe Solarte
    Producer
  • Helena Salguero
    Producer
  • Yelitza Uriana
    Key Cast
  • Sonia Epieyu
    Key Cast
  • Rafael González
    Director of Photography
  • Sorany Marín
    Editor
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Niñas de Uchituu
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Social, infance
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    35,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Colombia
  • Country of Filming:
    Colombia
  • Language:
    Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Muestra Internacional Documental de Bogotá # 18
    Bogotá
    Colombia
    October 28, 2016
    National
  • Atlantidoc -Festival de Documental Internacional de Uruguay # 10
    Atlántida
    Uruguay
    December 13, 2016
    Uruguay
    AWARD: Best documentary short film
  • Festival Internacional de Cine Colombiano de Nueva York # 5
    Nueva York
    Colombia
    March 25, 2017
    United States
  • Festival Cinelatino Rencontres de Toulouse # 29
    Toulouse
    France
    March 20, 2017
    France
  • Ficd – Festival Internacional De Cine En El Desierto (#7)
    Sonora
    Mexico
    May 13, 2017
    Mexican
  • SIL - Salón Internacional De La Luz (#8)
    Bogotá
    Colombia
    May 18, 2017
  • Lasfiba – Latin American Film Festival Barcelona (#1)
    Barcelona
    Spain
    June 7, 2017
    Spain
    Best documentary short film: indigenous topic
  • Festival De Cine En Las Montañas (#3)
    Salento
    Colombia
    June 8, 2017
    AWARD: Special Mention of the Jury on documentary shor film category
  • Montevideo World Film Festival (#3)
    Montevideo
    Uruguay
    July 13, 2017
    AWARD: Best documentary short film
  • Festival De Cine de Jardín-Caleidoscopio Cortos Colombianos(#2)
    Jardín, Antioquia
    Colombia
    AWARD: Best documentary shortfilm
  • Festival de Cine Colombiano de Medellín (#15) - Las Mujeres en el Cine colombiano, Colombia
    Medellín
    Colombia
    August 23, 2017
  • Muestra de cine Polo Sur Latinoamericano de Punta Arenas (#11)
    Punta Arenas
    Chile
    August 23, 2017
    AWARD: Best movie for the Audience
  • Muestra de Cine+Video Indígena (#11)
    Santiago
    Chile
    August 31, 2017
  • Festival de Cine Intravenosa (#9)
    Cali
    Colombia
    September 6, 2017
  • FICLAPAZ - La Paz International Film Festival, (#4)
    La Paz
    Bolivia, Plurinational State of
    September 8, 2017
    Bolivia
  • FICP - Festival Internacional de Cine de la Patagonia (#17)
    Trelew
    Argentina
    September 22, 2017
  • CINE OTRO -Festival de Cine de los Derechos Humanos de Valparaíso (#11)
    Valparaíso
    Chile
    September 24, 2017
  • DOCANT - Muestra Documental Antropológica Social (# 27)
    Buenos Aires
    Argentina
    October 11, 2017
  • Festival de cine Ojo al Sancocho, Ciudad Bolívar (#10)
    Bogotá
    Colombia
    October 12, 2017
  • DocsMX Festival de cine documental ciudad de Mexico (#12)
    Ciudad de México
    Mexico
    October 17, 2017
    AWARD: Special Mention of the Jury for shortfilm docs
  • Ficwallmapu, Festival Internacional Cine Indígena (#3)
    Temuco
    Chile
    October 18, 2017
  • Festival de Cine de Bogotá, categoría documental social (#34)
    Bogotá
    Colombia
    October 20, 2017
  • Festival de cine corto de Popayán, Muestra Panorama (#9)
    Popayán
    Colombia
    October 25, 2017
  • Festival Audiovisual de los Montes de María, A son de Paz (#6)
    Montes de María
    Colombia
    October 26, 2017
    AWARD: Best caribbean documentary
  • Arica Nativa, Festival Internacional de Cine Rural+Indígena (#12)
    Arica
    Chile
    November 6, 2017
    AWARD: Best Jallalla Film (indigenous category)
  • Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Villa de Leyva (#11)
    Villa de Leyva
    Colombia
    November 12, 2017
  • Corto Circuito Latino Shorts Film Festival of New York (#14)
    New York
    United States
    November 15, 2017
  • LIFFY - Latino and Iberian Film Festival at Yale University (#3)
    Conecticut
    United States
    November 17, 2017
  • Festival Pachamama Cinema de Fronteira (#8)
    Río Branco
    Brazil
    November 20, 2017
  • Muestra de Cine en Femenino (#9)
    Bogotá
    Colombia
    January 21, 2018
    AWARD: Best documentary shortfilm and Audience Award
  • FESTIFAL- Festival de cortos sobre temática rural (#5)
    Teruel
    Spain
    November 25, 2017
  • Festival de Documental « América Latina a través de la imagen » (#9)
    Lyon
    France
    November 30, 2017
  • Mujeres en Foco, Festival Internacional de Cine por la Equidad de Género (#7)
    Buenos Aires
    Argentina
    November 30, 2017
  • Festival de Cine y Artes Visuales Bugarte (#9)
    Buga
    Colombia
    December 1, 2017
  • Ambulante Colombia: Gira de Documentales 2017 (#4)
    9 heritage towns
    Colombia
  • SiembraFest - Festival de Cine colombiano al campo (#5)
    Guatavita
    Colombia
    December 5, 2017
    AWARD: Best professional documentary
  • Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Muestra Panorama (#39)
    La Habana
    Cuba
    December 11, 2017
  • Docfeed - Eindhoven Documentary Festival (#5)
    Eindhoven
    Netherlands
    February 23, 2018
    Netherlands Premiere
    Official Selection
  • FDCL - Festival de Cine Latino Americano (#3)
    Denton, Texas
    United States
    February 24, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Mostra de Cinema Feminista (#4)
    Belo Horizonte
    Brazil
    March 10, 2018
    Official Selection
  • LANAFF The Latino and Native American Film Festival (#8)
    Connecticut
    United States
    March 24, 2018
  • Encuentro Hispanoamericano De Cine Y Video Documental Independiente: Contra El Silencio Todas Las Voces (#10)
    Mexico City
    Mexico
    April 18, 2018
  • Cine Taquary, Muestra Internacional
    Taquaritinga do Norte
    Brazil
    April 20, 2018
    Official Selection
  • FECISO - Festival de cine independiente de Sogamoso (#2)
    Sogamoso
    Colombia
    April 24, 2018
    Official Selection Documentary
  • Iberodocs- Ibero-American Documentary Film Festival- Scotland (#5)
    Glasgow
    United Kingdom
    May 5, 2018
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Festival de la Imagen (#34)
    Manizales
    Colombia
    May 11, 2018
  • WFF- Whakapapa Film Festival (#3)
    Irsina y Matera
    Italy
    July 6, 2018
  • Festival Internacional de Cine por los Derechos Humanos (#5)
    Bogota
    Colombia
    August 13, 2018
  • Festival de Cine y Video Indígena de Michoacán (#14)
    Morelia
    Mexico
    August 27, 2018
  • Tuwun, Muestra de Cine indígena de Wallmapu (#3)
    Villarica
    Chile
    September 6, 2018
  • Festival Iberoamericano Surrealidades El cine Azul (#8)
    Bogota
    Colombia
    September 10, 2018
    Award for best documentary shortfim
  • FICCALI - Festival Internacional de Cine de Cali (#10)
    Cali
    Colombia
    November 9, 2018
    Special Jury Mention for shortfilm category
  • FICO - Festival Internacional de Cine de Oriente, Premio Dunav Kuzmanich (#11)
    Guatapé
    Colombia
    November 11, 2018
    Special Jury Mention for shortfilm category
  • Muestra de Cine Social "La Imagen del Sur (#15)
    Cordoba
    Spain
    November 12, 2018
    Selección Muestra de cine de los pueblos indígenas (#10)
  • Bienal Internacional Dona i Cinema - Woman & Film
    Valencia
    Spain
    January 11, 2019
Distribution Information
  • Helena Salguero
    Country: Colombia
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Helena Salguero Vélez

Born in Colombia in 1982. Professional in Audiovisual Media and Cinema. Interested in social and cultural topics, studied Scriptwriting for Short Films in Colombia and Creative Documentary in Barcelona. Between 2010 -2011 participated as researcher and filmmaker in the documentary series “Being a Human Being: wayuu chapter in Colombia”, produced by the EICTV (Cuba). She has worked as researcher and director in other series and audiovisuals focused in human rights and education with indigenous and rural communities. At this moment, she is part of Entre Paréntesis Foundation, where she has developed cultural projects and offered workshops in audiovisual.

Filmography:
2011 – Being a Human Being. EICTV Documentary TV Series. 3 Chapters.
2012 - Sinfonía de Mercado. Symphony Market. Documentary 27 min.
2016 - Niñas de Uchituu. Girls of Uchituu. Documentary 28 min.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Uchitu’u is a small village located over the hills of El Cabo de la Vela, between the desert and the Caribbean Sea in northern part of Colombia. This territory unveils the mystery of a native culture called the "wayuu", that has inhabited it for centuries.

Sonia and Yelitza are two wayuu girls, of 10 and 8 years old, who live in this community of Uchitu'u. Joined blood by the maternal line, they have learned in their own language the way to subsist according to what they find in nature. Despite being raised in the same context, Sonia and Yelitza have several marked differences between them, which are largely due to the influence of the external practices and customs that tourists bring to their territory.

The capitalist system, school education, commerce and tourism that has reached El Cabo de la Vela has permeated enormously in the daily life of indigenous communities, generating tension between the value of the ancestral customs and the civilized world, throwing questions about the forms of education that younger generations receive to raise their identity.