VICTORIA
Twenty years have passed since VICTORIA escaped Colombia when she revisits traumatic memories and thinks about how a journey of healing shapes her present life in London. A tale of migration to claim back her own life as she becomes an inspiration to many women.
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Juan Pablo Daza PulidoDirectorCoexistir
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Maria de los Ángeles Reyes M.Producer
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Emma DavieExecutive ProducersBecoming Animal, I am Breathing
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Noé MendelleExecutive ProducersScottish Documentary Institute
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Amy HardieExecutive ProducersThe Edge of Dreaming, Seven songs for a long life
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Juan Pablo Daza P.Cinematographer
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Federico Reyes M.Animation
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Juan Pablo Daza P.Editing
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Maria de los Ángeles Reyes M.Editing
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Tom HammillColour grading
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Victoria WijeratneMusic composer
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Project Type:Documentary, Short, Student
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Runtime:14 minutes 20 seconds
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Completion Date:May 30, 2020
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Production Budget:4,000 GBP
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Country of Origin:United Kingdom
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Country of Filming:United Kingdom
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Language:Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes - Edinburgh College of Art - The University of Edinburgh
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Bogoshorts 2020Bogotá
Colombia
December 9, 2020
World Premiere
Documentary National Competition - Cinemateca Distrital de Bogotá
Distribution Information
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Bogoshorts Film AgencyDistributorCountry: Worldwide
Juan Pablo Daza P. (1993) is a documentary filmmaker from Bogotá, Colombia. 'VICTORIA', his second short documentary, was made as part of his MFA Film Directing at The University of Edinburgh. His first short documentary 'Coexistir' (2016) won the award of Best National Short Documentary film at the Bogotá International Film Festival for Human Rights, in 2017. Juan Pablo is currently developing his debut as director of a feature-length documentary film.
As a Colombian emerging director, this film is part of my quest of trying to understand my country and its recent history. Above all, I did this documentary hoping it would be important for a very large community of exiles and refugees who left home against their will and have remained silent for so many years. Very few or almost no films have been made exclusively telling the stories of our exiles, who didn't leave all at once, but little by little over a long period of time and now the numbers are huge. Moreover, the number of cases of sexual violence (more than 15.000 and many still unreported) used as a weapon of war in the midst of the conflict, comes with a sense of urgency of the need for the victimizers to recognize their crimes, so the victims can speak up.
Personally, I feel so humbled to be able to hear these stories at first-hand. I worked as a videojournalist and photographer for more than three years in different regions of my country, hearing many stories of people who survived the violence and who were resilient enough to continue with their lives even in the midst of the conflict.
I feel responsible for jointly with them tell their stories, that are relevant to the atmosphere of change we are starting to see in our country, in the post-conflict era we are living. Having had the mentorship of Emma Davie and Noé Mendelle during the production of VICTORIA, certainly challenged my creative boundaries and pushed the narrative to one that is built around the emotional impact that the story can have on the audience, instead of a recollection of just information. The use of animation in the documentary was an attempt on focusing on recreating the emotions that are still alive in memories, instead of focusing on the victimization and trying to dignify VICTORIA's testimony.
This film is a love letter to Colombia, the place where we were born, that we love, but that has hurt us so much as well. The film is a statement of memory, for history to not be repeated again.