Estímulo

* _{McONdo, a word play between the corporate “Mc” and the fictional town of Macondo present in many of the books by}

Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, was the name of a short-lived literary movement that attempted to oppose the overwhelming influence of Magical Realism –and especially that of the works of García Márquez– in the literature of the region by describing the more cosmopolitan, neoliberal and pop-culture-influenced aspects of Latin American society, trying to show that the region was not an agrarian, patriarchal, backwards and exotic new world, as the members of the movement argued that Magical Realism had described it. Fuguet was the main advocate of this anti-Macondian literature and he often stressed the influence of cinema on his writing and worked as a film critic himself.

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As the above Colombian context makes clear, documentary films are usually excluded from the most traditional circuits of distribution in this country mainly because of negligence from the official institutions that are sponsoring their production but forgetting their exposure in theaters or other means of public exhibition that could allow the public to see the large number of documentary films that are being made by local filmmakers with public funds and which often deal with subjects of civic interest. There is also the problematic situation of television, where we find an underfunded public TV that is also low in accountability coupled with a private sector that is not interested in documentaries for several reasons, including a perceived lack of cost-effectiveness and an underestimation of the necessities of the audience. Meanwhile, the internet, which appears to many as the most potentially democratic and far-reaching of all the platforms for film distribution, is not yet a viable option for Colombia because of the lack of proper infrastructure to allow the population to have access to a connection with the sufficient speed and stability to stream films.

There is also the problem of a public who mostly remains oblivious of the amount of film productions that are being made in their country, mainly because these films are not exposed enough through the mass media. As it was pointed out before, one of that advantages of the informal film sector is that, unlike in the formal film market, a North American film can be placed in the same status and offered at the same price as a Colombian documentary film (or any other form of audiovisual media) and therefore the products become equal if not in demand, at least in their possibilities to reach the same audience and become known. This simple fact explains why spectators who have the habit of finding their films in the informal sector are more likely to know about the recent local productions, even if many feel more ambivalent about piracy in the case of local films because these movies feel much closer culturally and the efforts made for their production feel less motivated by pure commerce, contrasting with the perception that is mostly held concerning Hollywood films.98 If the formal film market is excluding films –again, especially documentaries– with which it simply does not know what to do because they do not accommodate to their rigid structures, perhaps it is fair that an opportunity is given to the social structures that make up the informal market to contribute with new ideas for the distribution of these films and allow this part of the

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economy to offer an alternative to local audiences so that they can gradually become familiar with different modes of distribution and spectatorship and learn to value alternative modes of filmmaking by participating more directly in market that offers what the informal channels of distribution are not willing to present. Instead of assuming that the public does not want certain films, it would be interesting to let the audience decide by providing them with more choices, particularly when the formal platforms of distribution in Colombia remain so underdeveloped and shortsighted.

If we also can accept that documentaries –as we have assumed them for the purposes of this research (explained in Chapter One) – are practically incompatible with the exclusive search for economic gain and are not meant to serve the interests of economic groups and require to be independent in order to retain their identity as the kind of documentaries that a society like Colombia needs, then it is imperative that they remain separated from the most conservative of distribution channels and that a search for models of film distribution looks at other options outside the most traditional channels. This does not mean that documentary filmmakers should completely relinquish the formal market or to declare it totally irreconcilable under all circumstances with the interests of documentary film; to be more precise, this means that Colombian traditional media still lack the maturity to accept dissent and to provide spaces for challenging audiovisual forms, as documentaries usually are. This points toward the direction of the forms of distribution with which this research is mostly concerned and that will be described in their following sections: alternative models that are willing to place documentaries at the same level as any other film, regardless of its origin, purpose or genre, and that consider them as important sources of information and awareness.

127 References

1 _{Política Pública Cinematográfica Colombiana (Public Policy for Colombian Cinematography), 2011, p. 6.} 2 _{Anuario Estadístico Cine Colombiano (Colombian Cinema Statistical Yearbook), 2012, p. 12.}

3 _{Castellanos, 2013.}

4 _{Comisión Fílmica Colombiana (Colombian Film Comission), 2013.} 5 _{Triana, 2012.}

6 _{Proimágenes Colombia, 2013.} 7 _{Proimágenes Colombia, 2013.}

8 _{Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia (Colombian Ministry of Culture), 2010, p. 505.}

9 _{Anuario Estadístico Cine Colombiano (Colombian Cinema Statistical Yearbook), 2012, p.74.} 10 _{Anuario Estadístico Cine Colombiano (Colombian Cinema Statistical Yearbook), 2012, Ibid..} 11 _{Martínez, Adelfa, interviewed in Congress and Society, 2013.}

12 _{Anuario Estadístico Cine Colombiano (Colombian Cinema Statistical Yearbook), 2012, p. 74.} 13 _{Castellanos, 2013.} 14 _{Castellanos 2013.} 15 _{Triana, 2012.} 16 _{Pantalla Colombia, 2013.} 17 _{Pantalla Colombia, 2013.} 18 _{Medellín, 2008.} 19 _{Medellin 2008.} 20 _{Rojas, 2010.} 21 _{Castillo, 2009.} 22 _{Castillo, 2009.}

128 23 _{Castillo, 2009.} 24 _{Karaganis, 2011.} 25 _{Castillo, 2011.} 26 _{Botero 2012.} 27 _{Castillo, 2011.} 28 _{Rojas, 2010. 2, p. 8.} 29 _{Rojas, 2010.} 30 _{Rojas 2010, p. 8.} 31 _{Revista Dinero, 2011.} 32 _{www.locationcolombia.com}

33 _{Santesmases, 1999, quoted in Rojas, 2010.} 34 _{Medellín, 2008, p. 103.} 35 _{Proexport, 2008.} 36 _{Luzardo, 2014.} 37 _{Luzardo, 2014.} 38 _{Luzardo, 2014.} 39 _{Proexport, 2008.} 40 _{Medellin, 2008.} 41 _{Luzardo, 2014.} 42 _{Luzardo, 2014.} 43 _{ANTV, 2012.} 44 _{Regional Alternative, 2013).} 45 _{d+i Llorente & Cuenca, 2013, p.3.}

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46 _{d+i Llorente & Cuenca, 2013.} 47 _{DANE, 2012.} 48 _{FDC 2011, p. 87.} 49 _{FDC 2011, p. 87.} 50 _{FDC, 2011, p.68.} 51 _{FDC, 2011, p. 68.} 52 _{FDC, 2011, p.68.} 53 _{ANTV, 2012, p. 11.} 54_{FDC, 2011, .p 68.} 55 _{Acosta, 2011.}

56 _{Becerra, quoted in El Espectador, 2011.} 57 _{www.enrodaje.com} 58 _{Luzardo, 2012.} 59 _{Proimágenes Colombia, 2014} 60 _{Proimágenes Colombia, 2014} 61 _{Martínez, 2011.} 62 _{Martínez, 2011.} 63 _{Martínez, 2011.} 64 _{Luzardo, 2012.} 65 _{Aragon, 2009, p. 99.} 66 _{Aragon. 2009, p. 99.} 67 _{Martínez. 2011.} 68 _{Quoted in Mascarello, 2006, p. 149.}

130 69 _{Luzardo, 2012.} 70 _{Luzardo, 2012.} 71 _{Gómez, 2012.} 72 _{Martínez, 2011.} 73 _{Parra, 2011.} 74 _{Velvet Voice, 2014.}

75 _{Carrillo, quoted in El Tiempo, 2013.} 76 _{Bustamante, quoted in El Tiempo, 2013.} 77 _{Aragon, 2009.} 78 _{Notimex, 2013.} 79 _{Corroto, 2012.} 80_{El Espectador, 2012.} 81 _{Machicado, 2012.} 82 _{Lobato, 2009, p. 2.} 83 _{Lobato, 2009, p. 2-3.} 84 _{Lobato, 2009, p. 4.} 85 _{Lobato 2009, p. 4.}

86 _{McNary: McClintock 2009, quoted in Lobato 2009.} 87 _{Turner, quoted in Lobato 2009.}

88 _{Castro, 2012.} 89 _{Castro, 2012.} 90 _{Lobato, 2009.} 91 _{Lobato, 2009.}

131 92 _{Lobato, 2009.} 93 _{Lobato, 2009.} 94 _{Lobato, 2009, p. 15.} 95 _{Martin, 2011.} 96 _{www.escribiendocine.com - 2011}

97 _{EFE, quoted in escribiendocine.com - 2011}

98 _{These conclusions were reached after reviewing the interviews of people involved in the informal film market who were}

contacted for the documentary film that accompanies this research. Specific details about their opinions and situation in regards to informality are given in Chapter Five.

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Chapter Three

The structure of the informal film distribution markets in Colombia

However, most poor people do not live under the shelter of the law, but far from the law’s protection and the opportunities it affords. Informal local norms and institutions govern their lives and livelihoods, and where they are not excluded from the legal system, they are often oppressed by it

The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor and the United Nations Development Program