ALIAS MARÍA Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival - Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard

Un Certain Regard is one of the programs in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob and each year it showcases a series of films with different visions and styles that seek international recognition. With a separate jury, this section intends to recognize young talent and encourage innovative and bold works. Filmmakers of the stature of Wim Wenders and Kim Ki-duk have participates and won recently in this section.

This year, the Un Certain Regard's jury will be presided by the Italo-American actress and director Isabella Rossellini. ALIAS MARÍA will compete with movies from all around the world like Neeraj Ghaywan's Masaan, Hrútar (Rams) by Grímur Hákonarson, Kishibe No Tabi (Journey to the Shore) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Laurent Larivière's Je Suis Un Soldat (I am a Soldier), Zvizdan (The High Sun) by Dalibor Matanic, The Other Side by Roberto Minervini, Un Etaj Mai Jos (One Floor Below) by Radu Muntean, Seung-Uk Oh's Mu-Roe-Han (The Shameless), Las Elegidas (The Chosen Ones) by David Pablos, Nahid by Ida Panahandeh, Comoara (The Treasure) by Corneliu Porumboiu, Chauthi Koot(The Fourth Direction) by Gurvinder Singh, Madonna by Suwon Shin and Maryland by Alice Winocour.

ALIAS MARÍA is the fourth Colombian movie to be selected in this section, after Cóndores no entierran todos los días (A Man of Principle) by Francisco Norden in 1984, Los viajes del viento(The Wind Journeys) by Ciro Guerra in 2009 y La Playa D.C. by Juan Andrés Arango in 2012.

Childhood in the mist of an atrocious and unnecessary war

ALIAS MARÍA, the opening movie for the 55th Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival, invites the viewer to think about the absurdities of war and the difficulties of the Colombian armed conflict. This new movie by Rugeles, who comes back to the big screen after García (2010), tells the story of María, a thirteen-year-old guerilla fighter who witnesses the secret birth of the commander's child, while she tries to decide what to do with her own pregnancy. ALIAS MARÍA, as well as inviting, seducing, and welcoming all audiences, involves the audience in a conflict that is at the same time personal and social. It will, without a doubt, strike a chord and leave everyone watching breathless.

The shooting took place in the jungle of the Magdalena Medio, which gives a stronger sense of realism to the story written by Diego Vivanco. Rugeles presents five talented natural underage actors: Karen Torres, Anderson Gómez, Erik Ruiz, Neiver Agudelo and Deivis Sánchez. They were chosen between October 2013 and January 2014, when around 1800 children were interviewed in zones strongly affected by our armed conflict. 400 children were selected from these interviews to participate in theatrical workshops in order to identify those with special talent in acting. With them, there were theater actors that were directed by Rugeles with particular sensibility to achieve the moving interpretations. Among them was the young talent Carlos Clavijo from the Casa Ensamble School, the Argentinian Lola Lagos, who has a long theatrical journey, Fabio Velasco, who leads the Ingeniería Teatral movement, and the well known Julio Pachón and Carmenza González.

José Luis Rugeles directed the feature film ALIAS MARÍA. It was produced by Federico Durán and written by Diego Vivanco. Sergio Iván Castaño was the director of photography; Oscar Navarro was art director; Camilo Sanabria did the music, Rocío Caro Villamil the investigation; Daniela Castro was assistant director. And the Argentinians: Delfina Castagnino in edition, and Martín Grignaschi and Federico Billordo in sound design. It has the support of the Colombian Fund for the Development of Cinematography (Fondo para el Desarrollo Cinematográfico) –FDC, Ibermedia, The Global Film Initiative, INCAA, OIM, USAID and it has scheduled premieres in France, Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, Argentina and Colombia, as well as a presale in FOX+ for Latin America.

More than a movie

ALIAS MARÍA is a transmedia project that goes beyond being a feature film: it's a multiplatform proposal made of a series of products and activities related to the theme of the story and happening in different parts of the country.

Among those activities, the audiovisual workshops in places with high rates of child recruitment and use stand out by transforming their vision of the world through cameras. The short films and materials resulting from these workshops are available online to multiply this experience. With these initiatives we seek to contribute to the strengthening of the prevention strategies against recruitment and use in the country.

Rhayuela and Galaxia 311 are also developing the documentary Nombre de Guerra: Alias Yineth. It depicts the country after the failed attempt at the peace process of Caguán though the story of Yineth. She was a former combatant who was recruited when she was 12 by the guerilla group FARC, in 1998, and who now works for the government in programs for the reintegration of former combatants.

At the same time we are setting up a collaborative webpage that contains not only the above-mentioned content, but also audiovisual materials and other expressions generated by the civil society. It would be articulated in a map with the recent history of violence in Colombia, which would allow us to examine ourselves, build our memory, and believe in the possibility of another future.

Rhayuela Cine

Rhayuela is an important Colombian production company with a future projection to the Latin American market, not only with movies and its own content, but also ads and music videos. ALIAS MARÍA is the first of Rhayuela's movies to be part of the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Other standout Rhayuela films are García (2010) and El Páramo (2011) by Jaime Osorio Márquez, and Días de Vinilo (2014) by Gabriel Nesci.

Some of the other awards collected by Rhayuela's productions are: Moviecity Award to best film, Cartagena 2011; Best Breakout Director, Sitges, Spain, 2011; Best Actress, Gramado, Brazil, 2011; Best Script, Guadalajara, Mexico, 2012; Colombian Academy Macondo Awards to the Best Actress, Editing, Costumes y Make-up, 2012.