LA SIERRA

A dead teenager, twisted and bloody, lies next to the road. Onlookers slowly gather. As someone recognizes him, the wails of loved ones drown out the murmur of the crowd. He is yet another victim of the decades-long civil war in Colombia that pits paramilitary forces against leftist guerillas. Here in La Sierra, a barrio outside Medellin, the combatants don't mull over politics or ideology. They struggle to maintain control over the only thing they have: their home.

Filmmakers Margarita Martinez, an Associated Press journalist, and Scott Dalton, a freelance photojournalist, spent a year in La Sierra building relationships and experiencing day-to-day reality. The result is this intimate portrait of three courageous people caught up in a war they did not begin. Edison, the 22-year-old commander of Bloque Metro, leads his gang to victory over the ELN guerillas and then plans a block party to unite the neighborhoods. Jesus, a 19-year-old foot soldier who lost his hand in a grenade accident, ruminates over the possibility that he may die before getting to know his son. Cielo, a 17-year-old widow, tries to make a new life for her son while avoiding the easy route of prostitution. Their lives are complicated by poverty and violence, but each dreams of peace and a slice of normal life. At times intensely violent, at times tender and fragile, the story of these young people's lives allows a previously unseen view into the conflict in Colombia.

Agnes Varnum

Scott Dalton, a native of Conroe, Texas, is a freelance photographer and filmmaker based in Colombia, where he has covered the conflict for five years. He has worked extensively throughout Central and South America, as well as in the Middle East. In 2003, while on assignment in one of Colombia's most dangerous war zones, he was kidnapped by leftist rebels. (He was released after 11 days.) Dalton's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, and the Associated Press.

Margarita Martinez is a reporter for the Associated Press in Bogota, Colombia, where she covers the civil conflict, gangs and negotiations between the government and insurgent groups. She was a Fulbright Scholar in journalism and international affairs at Columbia University. After working for NBC News, Martinez returned to Columbia where her work with the AP led her to Medellin's poor barrios, a window on the roots of Columbia's violence.

Print Source:
Andrew Blackwell
www.lasierrafilm.com
info@lasierrafilm.com

Wednesday 6/15 at 9:00 p.m.

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