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Joropo on the ropes

Strategic analysis for exhibition and impact in the plains cultural circuit

What is the most important cultural expression from the Colombian Eastern Plains? “Guates. Joropo on the ropes” is the documentary that questions what people understand by Joropo by examining its transformation. The music that once talked about cowboys and savannahs now has new referents, thus placing traditionalists and newcomers in different corners of the same culture.


This story examines the metamorphosis of the music and identity of the plains. Music interpreters, academics and folklorists get together to talk about history, territory, socioeconomic change and to share their un-even opinions about the music of the plains.

 

In the Colombian eastern plains, Joropo is the indigenous music. It speaks of a mega-diverse territory, peasant customs, and rural life that shape a character: the llanero (plainsman). However, upon observing this territory, rural life in the plains has been altered by the appearance of roads, mining explorations, oil drilling, and monocultures, indicating that the music is frozen in time and speaks of another era.

Meanwhile, Joropo remains an institutional and political discourse that ignores the reality of the territory. Additionally, artists seem to be subject to these directives and continue to glorify a land and customs that are increasingly disappearing.

 

EXPERIENCE

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Synopsis

A group of capybaras is displaced by a road, hundreds of fish are found dead mysteriously upstream, and a community is affected by the rising waters of the Guayuriba River. Meanwhile, the Joropo exalts a llano (plains) that is actually in decline.

Impact Campaign

1. Objective: The objective is to promote the film among the critical young audience and generate dialogues about the themes presented in it.

2. The target audience is critical young individuals interested in social, environmental, and cultural issues.

3. Organize screenings of the film aimed at the critical young audience in different locations and events, followed by debates and moderated discussions on the themes addressed in the film.

4. Issue a call to action at the end of each screening, inviting the audience to participate in initiatives that promote the improvement of ethics in the cultural circuit, such as signing petitions, participating in community activities, or spreading the message on social media.

Budget + Impact Indicators

20.000.000 COP

Promotion
5.000.000 COP

Exhibition
10.000.000 COP

Dialogues and Call to Action
5.000.000 COP

Press and Social media

4 screenings

Number of individuals engaged

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Event horizon

The purpose of this documentary is to generate a public debate that has been unknown for more than 40 years. The primary public of the Guates documentary is located mainly in the Colombian Eastern plains. This is a vast territory, geographically away and with medium to small size cities, that receives cinema mainly through open TV (Channel 13 and Señal Colombia), Internet in the urban areas and mostly through the non-conventional market in far away towns.


Because this documentary is thought of from a global perspective, it is also of interest to the public in the rest of the Colombian cities since it examines a social dynamic through one of the main resources of the region. A person watching from a capital city will be intrigued by the musical journey that Guates proposes and will discover a complex universe that is part of their country. The international public, interested in cultural products from different regions of the world, will also be mesmerized by the visual power of Guates.
Taking all audiences into account, Guates will be distributed as follows:


1. Local circulation. For Guates to be watched, is necessary to turn to conventional and non-conventional distribution channels.  Since there are no major distributors in the majority of the area, we will have Guates included in music festivals, cattle markets, city festivals, forums, local cinemas, etc. At that point, the project will circulate internally, generating the public debate for which it is intended.


2. Regular market. For the public outside of the Plains, the documentary will tour different festivals focused on every component of the transmedia product nationally and internationally. After that, it will be distributed through movie theaters and VOD platforms. For the international market, we will follow the trajectory of the most outstanding interpreters of Plainsmusic to insert Guates in the markets of countries like Panamá, México, Costa Rica, and in the circle of the World Music, like the United Kingdome, India and China.


Development of audiences: In the first stage, the documentary will go around local media. The results of this labor will determine the trajectory and projection of the product in other countries.


At the same time, we will use the company’s website as a direct channel to connect with those who want to access exclusive content and early releases. You can find the website

Motivation

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Intention

The desire is for Guates to circulate primarily in Colombia, which has proven to be a challenging task due to the low box office performance of national cinema and the lack of incentives for exhibitors in this regard. On the other hand, the film has been well-received in international specialized spaces such as Visions du Réels in Nyon, Switzerland, an audiovisual market focused on documentaries. This could lead to openings in international markets, but it does not align with our desire as creators, which is to have an impact in Colombia and the plains. Therefore, we applied for these funds to design a local impact strategy that can bring about structural changes in the cultural dynamics of our context.

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Social Responsibility

This documentary is supported by artists who share the primary concern that sparked it. During production, it is possible to remunerate the participation of some individuals. However, others have been involved from start to finish without expecting anything in return. Therefore, the decision has been made by the production company that upon completion of the documentary, these individuals will be recognized as co-producers of the final work. Their participation will be prominently acknowledged on screen, and they will have ownership of the work, potentially receiving profits if any are generated

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Expected Impact

This documentary aims to generate a cultural movement that rejects the unethical practices within the llanero cultural circuit. As an artist, I am not only part of the De la Cruz production company but also of an ecosystem heavily damaged by these practices. Therefore, from my position, I have been working to create spaces for thinking about art and audiovisual media, such as a cinema that does not currently exist in the plains. The strategy is to leverage the documentary to initiate these kinds of conversations and bring together various artists and stakeholders to propose clear rules for cultural and artistic development without corruption.
The film was initiated by the director, who is also part of the De la Cruz production house. De la Cruz is a g-local-focused audiovisual production company specializing in storytelling through documentary genre and non-fiction formats. In this sense, the beneficiary of the property rights is De la Cruz because it invested and managed most of the resources needed to complete the work.

Impact Outreach Target Audience

Family. YOUNG ADULTS: Individuals between 25 and 39 years old, who are in the productive stage of life and have a defined social role: parents, professionals, active workers; contributors to social dynamics. YOUTH: Individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 who are in the formative stage, in the process of taking control of their lives, and are integrating as citizens into social dynamics. They are interested in content that provides knowledge and critical thinking. ARTISTS: Individuals of any age who identify with the issues raised in the documentary and can participate in initiatives for changing these structures.


To reach this audience, the documentary is being submitted to festivals, which is essential for this type of project. In April, it will enter the VdR Film Market, an audiovisual market for creative documentaries from around the world. This will open doors to the international audience. However, to generate an impact in Colombia, especially in the eastern plains, it is necessary to engage in unconventional circulation methods such as meetings, fairs, and festivals in different municipalities, academic spaces, and citizen participation forums to present this work to the local audience.

Producer’s Statement

Being an independent project, Guates has had numerous obstacles to be carried out. The pandemic, which affected everybody alike, delayed the initial schedule and stopped our ability to fundraise. Now, in a much more relaxed context, speaking of biosecurity, we have started the production stage with the artists that have been available, the resources we have been able to obtain and the support of colleagues and allies.


By adjusting the income of our production company to the needs of the project, we gathered money to fund three filming days.  In these, we are working on doing the interviews to comply with our script. We still have eight filming days to go. Finishing shooting will be possible with the resources that the company gains over time and with the external resources obtained from the finished pieces.


When it comes to the artists on screen, they are invited during the interviews to perform one of their pieces. When we saw the visual and sound potential of the plains interpreters, we came up with the idea of the series Maestros; thus creating the Guates transmedia universe. It consists of the documentary feature film, a short, derived documentary and the Maestros series, which is thematically independent. Every clip from the series is a personal conversation to the artist while they play their music. We discovered that it is greatly beneficial for the project because while it helps us bring the funds in, it creates expectations in the public for the feature.
Starting July 2021, we will premiere one clip per month until we get to December, which is when we are planning on premiering Guates: Joropo on the ropes. The first clip of the series.


One of the reasons why we produce in a relatively low-cost budget is that, for Guates, we designed contracts that guarantee the involvement of the technical team without great and immediate disbursements. The parties have agreed on a set of conditions to see this project through. This implies that the investment is reduced without sacrificing the quality of the products. Producing in the Meta region is particularly difficult, which is why we look into every opportunity we come across to advance with the project. The joint effort that precedes Guates is without a doubt a prediction of the great documentary we will have in the future to talk about this part of the country.

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