In this video, we want to introduce you to Henry Rincón from Comuna 90 – Santa Elena, one of the five rural corregimientos of Medellín. Henry is a Colombian filmmaker whose narratives create bridges between subjects that they seem fairly apart. Like he did on his first film ‘Pasos de héroe’ -Hero Steps-, where soccer and land mines merged to create a story; in ‘La ciudad de las fieras’ -The City Of Wild Beasts- the Colombian director creates a conversation between the rap culture and the flower grower tradition in the city. His latest feature film was part of the Miami Film Festival in 2021 and has premiered in many places around the world.
Please like and share this video, by doing that you’re helping the project a lot! Also leave a comment letting us know which Legend are you the most excited about!
In this video, we are super excited to introduce you to Felipe Álvarez from Comuna 11 – Laureles Estadio. He’s a music producer, engineer, and the founder of ‘Polen Records’, one of the first independent music labels in Colombia back in 2006, that continues to contribute to the ‘development of the Latin American Independent music scene’ (Label at polenrecords.com); working with bands like Bomba Estéreo, Chocquibtown and Systema Solar. Besides working with Shakira during her then break-out years, Felipe won a Latin Grammy in 2010 for Best song with Latinoamerica by @calle13, and was nominated with Bomba Estéreo‘s album Elegancia Tropical for Best Alternative Music Album in 2012.
Please like and share this video, by doing that you’re helping the project a lot! Also leave a comment letting us know which Legend are you the most excited about!
In this video, we are super happy to introduce you to Rosa Adela Tejada from Comuna 3 – Manrique. She’s a social leader that helps her community in collaboration with ‘Colectivo por Naturaleza’ through different activities such as ultimate and sewing. Her house in the neighborhood La Honda has become a space where everyone is welcome to participate, to ask for help when they are needed and a safe space where people’s feelings and experiences always have a place.
In this video, we are very excited to introduce you to John Fredy Asprilla from Comuna 13 – San Javier. He’s a singer, musician and part of the musical group Son Batá. Through his music, he and his fellow group members have transformed the lives of many children and young adults in their comuna to overcome challenges and continue to pursue the life they want to reach.
In this video, we are happy to introduce you to Gilmer Mesa from Comuna 4 – Aranjuez. He’s a writer that embodies many of the stories holding onto the streets, parks and old houses in his comuna. And that dedicates his life to embrace the culture, achievements and future of his home. With that, we can say that he defines Aranjuez but that Aranjuez defines him as well. Please like and share this video, by doing that you’re helping the project a lot! Also leave a comment letting us know which Legend are you the most excited about!
Verónica Vidales is a boxer and boxing teacher at Comuna 3 – Manrique. Born in Betulia, Antioquia, Verónica talked with us about her family’s arrival at La Honda, her first contact with the sport, the experience of becoming a teacher, and the process of getting to the professional and personal place she is at now. where she empowers girls and women to achieve their dreams no matter where they are from.
Chota 13 is a graffiti artist from Comuna 13 – San Javier, the place that he has always called home. At his personal studio, he told us about his beginnings in art; the social-artistic transformation of his Comuna, how it changed his life when invisible borderlines were an everyday worry; and his personal journey to become an internationally known artist.
Chota 13 es un artista del graffiti de la Comuna 13 – San Javier, lugar que siempre ha sido su hogar. En su estudio, él nos contó sobre sus inicios en el arte; la transformación socio-artística de su Comuna, cómo eso cambió su vida cuando las fronteras invisibles eran una preocupación diaria; y el proceso para convertirse en un artista conocido internacionalmente.
Last December, we decided to take a leap of faith and launch the Medellín AV Club and with it, the ‘Legends of Medellín’ project: a documentary that tells the stories and history of Medellín through the people that live in the city of eternal spring. The 17 episodes mini series shows Legends from each one of the Comunas, that even though they come from different backgrounds and they dedicate their life to different things, share a special love for their city.
Almost a year later, we can say that half of the project is done, and we are very proud of how far we have come. Besides being the biggest project that Rob and the team has embarked on, the logistics with the global pandemic, the situation in Colombia and the world still recovering from 2020 were definitely a challenge.
We are very grateful to all of you for the support in the past 11 months. The funding that we have received has gotten us to this point: It gave us the chance to complete almost one year of shooting, be to 7 of the 16 Comunas, and do more than a dozen of the main interviews that will be part of the documentary. However, there are a lot of things to be done and that is why we are talking to you and reaching out for help.
In this new IndieGogo, you have the opportunity to support us for the first time, once again or to share our cause with your loved ones. This new campaign will help us cover the large amount of editing that needs to be done for the series as well as to contract two music producers for the original music content for the Legends of Medellín. In addition to having a second camera to use for the upcoming Legend interviews, gas and food for the crew to get around the comunas of the city.
Legends of Medellin Project
The perks that are part of this IndieGogo are a collaboration with our sister clothing brand LaFond Medellín Made in Colombia and the Foundation Mujer Talento. We wanted to create something that was wearable, classic and timeless. But still showing the love we have for this beautiful city. There’s a perk for everyone and we are excited for you to enjoy them!
From the Legends, we have learned life lessons, dreams and resilience, and soon, you guys can learn them too.
As you can tell by the title, this post is about the current situation happening in Colombia, which, if you have not heard of, Colombia has been in Paro Nacional – National Strike – since April 28th, 2021.
Fast forward to September of 2021, people were wondering if Colombia was still in Paro Nacional and how the country’s situation was. Since 4 months passed and the pandemic is still here, people kind of forgot why the Paro Nacional started, which is why we decided to recap, to inform, and do our best to answer those questions in a way that people that are not Spanish speakers could understand them.
During the creation of this video we had the opportunity to talk with a photographer and journalism student from Bogotá, and with a professor and poster creator from Cali-Colombia. Together we shared how the Paro Nacional has persisted and what are some of the reasons why people continue taking to the streets after 4 months.
Yulieth Rojas is a journalism and anthropology student that during the Paro Nacional enrolled Plaza Capital, a communication and public opinion program at her university, in order to do the media and press coverage of the protests in Bogotá.
Zecarrillo is a graphic artist that, like many Colombians, felt the necessity of doing something about the situation happening in Colombia. While working in La Linterna (The Flashlight) a letterpress printing in Cali that has been around since 1938, he and many others created hundreds of posters about the Paro Nacional with messages that reunited people’s feelings.
As a quick recap, what started the Paro Nacional in the first place was the tax reform that the government released on April 15 of 2021, in order to boost the economy after the six-month lockdown of 2020 and the global pandemic that is still around us. The tax reform stated that whether you are rich or poor, you will be taxed 19% on basic things like water, electricity, milk, eggs, and more. This is in a country where people are already struggling to eat three times per day. Studies show that in the last six months, poverty covers almost 50% of the population and one in every four people under age 28 is unemployed.
On April 28th, 2021, Colombians took to the streets and their right to protest against the tax reform. Many Colombians can recall that they have never seen so many people standing together for the same cause. After four days of people marching in different cities of the country, the tax reform was removed along with the resignation of the minister that promoted it in the first place. However, the tax reform opened Pandora’s box to other issues in the country: “since November of 2019, it was perceived that something was happening here, right? That something was happening in social terms, and that something was that people, in general, were showing a high discontent with what was happening in the country, right? That discussion that occurred around that time, and that the pandemic in Colombia like in other countries, reduced the resistance, I think that after being locked up for so long, people’s voices came back with much more force” Said Zecarrillo
“In this Paro Nacional ‘‘ continued Zecarrillo “the orchestral symphony for example, for the first time in a very long time, left the auditorium and went to the neighborhood Puerto Resistencia, a place in Cali where people get together, to play and support the Paro Nacional. When the Police came to cover the murals grey, days later, even more, powerful and colorful murals were painted again”
Sadly, Cali Colombia was one the places in the country that suffered the most violence and misplaced information: “Something that the Paro Nacional did was shake us because the violence that was indifferent to us for many years, reached our cities” said Zecarrillo.
Colombians were already tired of the injustice, the corruption, lack of equality, and if that wasn’t too much, they had a new health reform upon them. This means that while people were making themselves heard and fighting the tax reform, the government wanted to continue with a health reform that basically established that if you can not afford to pay it, you would not be treated. Posters in social media showed: “If the tax reform ruins us, the 010 (health reform) kills us”. After continuous days of protesting, social media live streaming and thousands of messages against it, the health reform was removed.
By the one-month mark, an article in Science Magazine showed that: “More than 40 people have now died and there are more than 2000 complaints of police brutality, including 27 cases of sexual violence; nearly 200 people are missing”.
After the 2 month mark, television and mainstream media in the country stayed away from talking or making references about the Paro Nacional that was still present in Colombia. Instagram profiles, newspapers columns and Facebook live streaming were being censored, taken down, or unable to be seen. “Something that happened with Lucas [student that got shot during the protests in Pereira-Colombia on May 5th, 2021, and that passed away a few days after] and Dilan [student that got shot and killed by the ESMAD in Bogotá-Colombia during the protests of Paro Nacional of 2019 ‘21 N’ ], was that we could not share the truth because at Plaza Capital we were under threat”
Instead of shifting away or getting distracted with soap operas, people became more aware of the content being shared on smaller platforms and used them to be informed about how the situation was developing. Yulieth’s Instagram profile @kyroja.ph was one of them: “It was time to show it and for people to feel it… what I try to do with my photographs is that people can feel and can see a reality that I see. It’s something very subjective to do, but it can create awareness and reflection” said Yulieth. The awareness helped the Primera Línea, the people fighting the police, and the Anti-Riot Squad, tremendously because people made sure that everything that was happening was being registered online.
After 4 months of Paro Nacional, Colombians are still taking to the streets, the young people in the Primera Línea from different cities are still unable to go home because they are not safe and they are being persecuted. Cases against the police keep going up, the violence and missing people have not stopped, the Colombian currency is devalued every day, and all of this while there’s a pandemic in the picture.
The tax reform was removed, but it does not finish there. Colombians are in need of a tax reform that is correct and fair for the people in the country, as well as a health reform that understands that everyone has a right to be treated and taken care of. And above all, justice for the ones that are no longer here, the ones that are still missing, and the ones that have suffered all kinds of violence from the government, Police, and Anti-Riot Squad.
“The Paro Nacional that began in Colombia, since April 28, 2021, can be considered the largest in the contemporary history of the country,” said Proclama. The National strike does not stop, #SOSColombia continues to reach out to platforms of international news, national programs, and even at a film festival in Europe. The Colombian flag, where yellow was the predominant color, is now dressed in red.
If you have not seen the video, you can see it by clicking right here ↓↓↓↓
We hope you enjoyed it, and we will see you soon. Chao!
