Tomas de guerra

The filmmakers are middle-class residents of the capital (Bogota), working for a children's television production company. The movie is a video diary for approx. the years 1998-2002. They do an excellent job of explaining the context of the civil war, it's surprisingly balanced. Drugs, the guerrillas and paramilitaries, the struggle of institution-building, and poverty, are all discussed. It's quite a depthful and nuanced picture of the country, in contrast to the overall effect of most journalistic reporting about Colombia. The best part of the film is the way in which one of the filmmakers shows how the war has affected her two young children. The father struggles to answer the question, "If the guerrillas want good things, why do they do bad things?" This movie showed in Berkeley as part of the annual Human Rights Watch film festival. I encourage you to seek it out for yourself, if available.

Brilliant! I laughed and cried and came away feeling that I had a better understanding of the country of Colombia, its people, and the problems that both are facing.

As well as covering the wider subjects of the 'drug war', the paramilitaries, the guerillas, etc, the film provides the viewer with a privileged insight into the lives, thoughts and emotions of a politically aware, middle class family living in the nation's capital.

I urge you to see this film if you get the chance. Its rare that a film or documentary leaves you with so much to reflect upon once it is over.