Las Colores De La Montaña

2.1 Las colores de la montaña (2011)
Las colores de la montaña is a 2011 fiction film directedbyCarlos César Arbeláez. It takes place in a village somewhere in the Colombian Andes and time wise it could be placed anytime in the past three decades. The film explores the end of innocence by depicting war through the eyes of young children. Manuel is a 9 years old boy and he loves football, playing soccer with his friends Julian and albino called Poca Luz in every spare moment. While the adults around them do their best to remain neutral in the conflict between the guerrillas and the armed military in the zone, the children live what seems to be a carefree childhood: aware of, but not bothered by the presence of men in uniforms. However, the

tension in the village slowly rises and there is more and more evidence of the war beginning to affect their lives. Arbeláez raises the questions of- How does a child perceive the military conflict?
This film has received a lot of attention in Colombia not only because of the way it addresses problematictopics but also due to the high international recognition it acclaimed by winning various prizes.

Las colores de la montaña can be listed among the films that tell the story of the unarmed actor, Manuel, his friends and family in particular. Even though the film is about the armed conflict, the main emphasis is placed on how the conflict is perceived by those who are not directly involved in it. Telling the story through the eyes of a nine-year-old gives the film a unique feel: the traditionally represented aspects of the armed conflict are still there, however, they are placed in the background focusing on the confusion a child has to experience while growing up in this

environment.
While the principal theme of the film could be stated as the vulnerability of the children surrounded by the armed conflict and violence, at the same time it is also a genuine representation of what it means to live in Colombia during the time of the conflict: absolutely everyone is affected by it in one way or another: terror as an everyday reality. Arbeláez has managed to address a variety of problems existing in the Colombian society and affect not only children. Internal displacement: more and more of Manuel`s classmates are absent as local families flee from the village. Machismo: attributing manliness and bravery with joining the guerrillas, Manuel`s friend Julian mentions how his brother is a “tough man” because he knows how to disarm landmines. Some of the topics are addressed by small, seemingly insignificant details: For example, the problem of disappearances is touched by a background radio stating the names of disappeared youngsters while Manuel`s parents are having a conversation.
The theme of violence needs a more detailed analysis. Step by step Manuel`s childhood is being indirectly taken away from him by the war. In Las colores de la montaña the violence structures that affect children can be divided in more particular categories by their consequences on a particular right we would associate with a normal childhood. 1) It affects family as a unit of support: family members disappearing and being killed, Manuel`s dad Ernesto disappears after the armed military raids their house. 2) It prevents children from obtaining education: school is used as a guerrilla meeting point and the local teacher has to flee as she does not support them. 3) It takes away the joy of recreations: they can no longer play football due to the possibility of mines being placed in the field. 4) It is generally violating child`s right to socialize in a community: all Manuel`s friends gradually leave the village. 5) It takes a toll on child`s mental health: there is a moving scene where Manuel experiences a powerful fear attack just by hearing a helicopter pass. 6) It imposes values o patriarchy and machismo in their thoughts and behaviors: Violence in the family environment when Ernesto hits is wife in front of the kids for not following his instructions. 7) It infringes the concept of `home` by the forced internal displacements as staying in the village is too dangerous. Even though Manuel`s understanding of the armed conflict is solely based on what he observes in his parents and surroundings, the violence of the happenings has a significant role in his childhood and development. While terror is present in so many levels, there are almost no explicit scenes of physical violence in Las colores de la montaña setting it apart from the general ways or representing the armed conflict on the screen.
The film has a clear way of distinguishing between paramilitaries and guerrillas. The paramilitaries are always shown in green uniforms, while the guerrilla troops all wear identical ponchos. Even though, there is an apparent distinction between the two armed actors, the film does not tend to have division in the attitude that the unarmed actors have towards either of the two. Manuel can identify the armed actors, but he does not seem to have the understanding of their status, his attitude is based solely on how he has seen his parents acting around this figures.While Manuel`s dad is equally terrorized by the guerrillas as he is by the paramilitaries, as both sides represent terror to him and his family. The fact he refuses to join guerrilla troops is associated with being a coward and furthermore a Sapo , while paramilitary forces automatically assume his helping guerrillas based on the fact he has no information to share with them. In this way the question of whether it is possible for an individual to remain neutral and not take either of the sides of the conflict is highlighted. The civilians are put in an uncomfortable situation where, as Manuel`s mother Miriam states “If you are not with them, you are against them”.However, the violence is still represented as one-sided against the civilians.
Las colores de la montaña overcomes one of the problems associated with the armed conflict on the screen, namely of civilians often represented as passive and helpless. Obviously, the main characters being children do appear as helpless; however they are generally quite optimistic and cheerful. Some characters in this film stand out from the crowd particularly do to their refusal to be passive in the situation. An emblematic character to this end: the young female school teacher from the city, whose devotion and social commitment is articulated in her resistance against threats and her refusal to leave the village until most villagers have fled .
Even though Los colores de la montaña transmitts the same message about the victimization of the rural population and their dead-end situation between different armed fronts as the two other sample films, it develops differently along the victim-perpetrator line in two aspects: first, Julian, one of the child protagonists has an elder brother who allegedly joined “the guerrilla” Julian, who suffers from domestic violence, considers joining his brother who has given him a number of different bullets as a present before leaving the family. Second, the concierge of the local school, Luisa, allegedly opened the school for a paramilitary meeting. While it remains unclear whether her motives are fear or opportunism, Los colores de la montaña problematises the many facets of voluntary and involuntary collaboration with the ‘armed actor’. Its general evolution along the victim-perpetrator line is thus less straightforward, even though the red line of the story evolves along Manuel’s family, who is clearly positioned as victims, unwilling to collaborate in anyway – which leads to the forced disappearance and indicated killing of Manuel’s father.
2.2 Pequeñas voces (2011)
Pequeñas voces is a unique project that took the directors Jairo Eduardo Carrillo and Oscar Andrade over 10 years in production .

It is an animated documentary film released in 2011 that displays the harsh reality of the Colombian youth narrated by children themselves (ages 8-13). The directors use only interviews and drawings produced by children that have suffered by the violence of the armed conflict. The end result is an innovative animation movie that allows to look at the Colombian current reality from a child`s point of view: full of innocence and sweetness, not ready for the violence that surrounds them.
The animated documentary shows various forms of victimization: threats and armed attacks against civilians, forced disappearances, bombings of the village and armed battles, child recruitment by the guerrilla, forced displacement, and the subsequent problems of unemployment, poverty and stigmatization in the cities .

While

2.3 Retratos en un mar de mentiras (2010)
Carlos Gaviria`s and his 2010 film Retratos en un mar de mentiras reflect on some of the long-lasting consequences Colombians are left with as a result of the armed conflict. Marina is a young woman living in poor conditions in a house that belongs to her alcoholic uncle and is located in a slum of Bogota. She first appears as an unsocial and awkward individual, yet it becomes clear early in the film that she is actually suffering from a psychological trauma rooted in her childhood that has resulted in a partial amnesia and poor communication skills. After the sudden death of her uncle Marina and her cousin Jairo, an under-achieving photographer, embark on a journey towards the North to claim back the lands that belong to their parents and they had left as kids.