Latin America, Visual Arts, Post-war Reconciliation, Trauma Healing
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This community empowerment initiative focuses on a specific community called "Tierra Grata" which emerged as one of the first peace-signing communities in Colombia after the armed conflict. The project involves former guerrillas who transitioned to civilian life and took it upon themselves to build a town despite limited government support, and had support of “Historias En Kilometros” to learn how to empower their own narrative. Filmmaking allowed this particular community to share their voices and experiences.
The project has evolved into an international film festival known as "FICC-HEK SERRANÍA DEL PERIJÁ" which gathered other communities who used film to tell their stories of armed conflict (check TC and Film case study) as a tool for self-expression and healing. The ultimate goal is to celebrate and showcase community filmmaking around the world, and to connect these community filmmaking teams. The festival is organised collaboratively between HEK and the community of Tierra Grata.
Check other case studies from the same organisation Truth Commission and Film, and Former Guerillas Coming Back to Civilian Life.
Peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC was reached in 2016. While it marked a significant milestone, challenges remained in its implementation. These challenges included the reintegration of former combatants, land reform, political reconciliation, and combatting other armed groups and criminal organisations that continued to operate in the country. Former guerrillas, who were peace signers, were asked to lay down their arms at specific locations the government gave them.
This process took so long that they started making communities at those locations. Working on filmmaking with former guerrillas in these new communities, the biggest challenge was to support them to use cameras as a tool, when they were persuaded by other members of the community in Tierra Grata to work on more practical community-building tasks in order to build a town.
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Storytelling through film
The film festival as a platform for sharing stories of communities, which, after armed conflict, went through a healing process.
Films as resources to support memories of the conflict, in hopes of preventing repetition of violence
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Project empowered former guerrillas to share their stories and experiences related to the armed conflict and their transition to civilian life. The process was designed to support them to heal, and to extend the process to other members of their communities.
Creation of the International Festival, with programmes that teach about peacebuilding through film for adults as well for the kids, contributed to building of new perceptions in Colombia on peacebuilding processes.
Films stay as reminders to not repeat the violence.
Through storytelling, these projects have facilitated healing and catharsis within communities that have experienced trauma, conflict, or displacement. Sharing their stories can be a therapeutic process for individuals and the community as a whole.
What we realised is that the fact of having to be quiet, the fact of not being able to express yourself is something that is in the essence of a conflict - because you're scared. So we work to empower communities’ voices.
