Bicentenario

Forum Expanded 2021

On the 200th anniversary of Simon Bolivar’s liberation journey across Colombia, Bicentenario reflects on the far-reaching consequences of the liberator’s legacy, a legacy kept alive through a wide range of intentional and unintentional rituals of remembrance. Summoning Bolivar’s spirit in the exact landscapes that witnessed the battles, Bicentenario reveals the contemporary social rituals that perpetuate the ongoing violence residing deep within the social and political unconscious. Two hundred years after his campaign, Simon Bolivar’s spirit has become a mix of political mysticism, unquestioned doctrine, and enigma—or perhaps a curse that has fixed itself in the collective imaginary of an entire continent. It is this curse that Bicentenario seeks to invoke, and perhaps exorcise. (Pablo Alvarez Mesa)

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by Pablo Alvarez Mesa Canada / Colombia 2020 Spanish 43’ Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

Crew

Director	Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Cinematography	Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Editing	Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Sound Design	Pablo Alvarez Mesa
Sound	Galen Elfert, Olga Cecilia Mesa, Christian Olsen, Erin Elizabeth Ryan
Sound Mixing	Christian Olsen
Colour Correction	Victor Ghizaru
Producer	Pablo Alvarez Mesa

Produced by

Pablo Alvarez Mesa

Berlinale Meets | Interview

Pablo Alvarez Mesa

Pablo Alvarez Mesa, born in 1980 in Colombia, is a filmmaker and cinematographer working mainly in nonfiction. His award-winning films have played at international film festivals including Berlinale, IFFR, Visions du Reel, and Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal. Alvarez Mesa is a Berlinale Talents and Canadian Film Centre alumnus and holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University and an MFA in Film Production from Concordia University.

Filmography (selection)

2009 Presidio Modelo; 16 min. 2010 Jelena's Song; 30 min. 2017 La Pesca; 23 min. 2020 Bicentenario