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Colombia's Pacific lowlands Geographic area Maps History Bibliography Glossary Mazamorreo Quicktime video Film structure Festivals Consultants |
Consultants and Contributors
Dr. Nina S. de Friedemann Dr. Jaime Arocha Dr. Cecilia Hernández de Mendoza
Dr. Catalina Laserna Martha Luz Machado Aura Elena González Sevillano
Calvin Forbes Nicolas Courbon Carolyn Tennant Neal J. Gold Steve Cetjin
Lee Ann Woolery Pepe Vargas Carolina Posse Jaime Mejia Tachi Llamas
Dr. Nina S. de Friedemann (1930-1998)
Dr. de Friedemann's profound understanding and research on Afro-Colombian communities is one of the most valuable legacies of the last decade in Colombian history. After evaluating the initial proposal of this project in 1997, Dr. de Friedemann encouraged and mentored its development in an outstanding and most generous manner. This production is dedicated to her memory and her lifetime legacy. She agreed to provide institutional sponsorship and to evaluate the finished piece, through the The Human Expedition and América Negra programs of the Instituto de Genética Humana/Medicine Faculty at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia). The Human Expedition has sponsored research programs on Afro-Colombian communities since the late 1980s. The program publishes scholarly research and journals such as "América Negra." These journals present the research of scholars who study the social, political and cultural history and contemporary life of African descent on Latin America and the Carribean. It also published De Friedemann's latest research La Saga del Negro: Presencia africana en Colombia, (Santa Fé de Bogotá, 1993).
Dr. Jaime Arocha
Dr. Jaime Arocha received a Ph.D. from Columbia University (NY) and was a Rockefeller visiting fellow in 1996 at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is the cofounder of the University of Amsterdam Center for the Study of African Diaspora in Europe and Latin America. Also, Dr. Arocha was a member of the Presidential Commission for the Studies of Violence in Colombia. Dr. Arocha provided Courbon with useful comments and insightful analysis.
Dr. Cecilia Hernández de Mendoza
Dr. Cecilia Hernández de Mendoza is one of the most notable intellectual women currently living in Colombia. Dr. Mendoza's long involvement in the National folk, linguistic and literary movements of Colombia and her life-long commitment to the Humanities, was recently awarded the Honorable Cultural National Distinction by the Instituto Caro y Cuervo. The Instituto Caro y Cuervo is both a publishing house and a cultural center, committed to the publication and preservation of Colombian literary, folk and linguistic studies. Dr. de Mendoza served as mentor for the project and provided access to the Instituto Caro y Cuervo's resources.
Dr. Catalina Laserna
Dr. Catalina Laserna is a Colombian-born scholar. Dr. Laserna received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology form the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge, England). She plays leading roles in research, teaching, and overseas activities including international project management. She relays her field experiences to the Harvard community, involving Harvard faculty; some of her current commitments include Principal Investigator of the Project to assist the Government of Paraguay in the Design and Implementation of Educational reform. Dr. Laserna's current research is based on comparative educational models in Latin American and the United States, which, allows and encourages the cultural exchange between South and North America. Dr. Laserna's knowledge of the Afro-Colombian communities is comprehensive, as she conducted ethnographic research in the Cauca region for 18 months. Lastly, Dr. Laserna's extensive experience in the cultural exchange between Colombia and the United States qualifies her to provide the project with a unique bi-cultural analysis. Dr. Laserna was the Project Evaluator for Mazamorreo: In Search of Memory/En Búsqueda de Memoria, and has agreed to continue evaluating and guiding Courbon throughout her new project.
Martha Luz Machado
Martha Luz Machado received her Communications degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá. She participated in many field studies with Dr. de Friedemann and Dr. Arocha. She recently published her research on the women of the Pacific Coast and Palenque on the Northern coast of Colombia. Her understanding of the Afro-Colombian communities and Afro-Colombian women and their role in the community is a great asset to this project.
Aura Elena González Sevillano
Aura Elena González Sevillano (Maye) is Community Leader who works as a grassroots activist with different Afro-Colombian communities throughout the pacific lowlands of Colombia. Among other commitments, she has consulted and helped, displaced victims of the violence in Colombia: those families forced to leave their homes and relocate to other cities because of armed conflicts. She focuses on children and women, and actively meets with other community leaders of the region.
Calvin Forbes
Calvin Forbes is a New Jersey born poet and writer. He has contributed to the project in all levels of writing and critique - grant writing, treatment and subject development and script writing. He has taught at the American University, Washington D.C, the University of the West Indies, Kingston (Jamaica) and University of Copenhagen (Denmark), among others. In adition, he was the recipient of the 1982 National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry, Fellowship Award and most recently, the 1999 Illinois Arts Council, Poetry, Fellowship Award recipient, to list a couple. Among his published books, are Blue Monday, Wesleyan University Press, 1974; From the Book of Shine, Buming Deck Press, 1978; The Shine Poems, Louisiana State University Press, 2001. Also, he has written in several magazines such as Yale Review, American Scholar, Black World, Chicago Review, etc. He has also lectured on Jazz History and mentored young artists.
Nicolas Courbon - Videographer and Production Assistant
Aside from his composed shots and his perceptive eye, Nicolas has a developed sense of audio technicalities. He brings to the project his knack for administration and project management, as well as his teamwork skills and his readiness in the field. Nicolas, who received a degree in International Relations and Finance, has an ongoing interest in development and communications, which lends itself nicely to this community-based project.
Carolyn Tennant - Assistant Screenwriter
Carolyn Tennant is a graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she earned a combined degree in American Studies and Documentary Journalism. Her main work, "You Don't Feed Me: The Sapphire Sings Out," based in East Winston-Salem (North Carolina), is the story of Willa Mae Buckner, a former blues musician, carnival snake handler, and burlesque dancer. Today Carolyn is a consultant for the Music Makers Relief Foundation (Pinnacle, NC) which aids elderly musicians such as Ms. Buckner, and aims to preserve America's cultural legacy-the Blues.
Neal J. Gold - Editor and Technical Consultant
Neal has a degree in film and video from the University of Michigan. He is the President of the Chicago-based post-production house, Gold'n'Group Productions, Inc. who co-sponsored Courbon's documentary Mazamorreo: In Search of Memory/En Búsqueda de Memoria. He contributed his knowledge, technical consulting, facilities and equipment access. Currently, he is producing "The 95th, The Iron Men of Metz", a documentary about World War II veterans. Among others.
Steve Cetjin
Steve Cetjin is the President of Hammer & Pixel, a Chicago-based post-effects and special effects facility. Steve's experience in the Computer Generated Images (C.G.I.) and effects is extensive. Steve's creative and technical contribution to this project were of great value.
Lee Ann Woolery
Lee Ann Woolery completed her doctoral work in environmental studies at Antioch University New England. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (5/95) with a Master of Arts in Art Therapy. Her work with a bilingual multicultural constituency is interdisciplinary, a merging of creativity, imagination, and science. She has numerous times been guest lecturer at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago speaking on Art and Ecology. She has presented papers nationally; Addressing Psychological Loss in Adolescent Girls Through EcoArt Therapy, Art as a Method of Bicultural Reconciliation for Urban Native American Women, and EcoArt Therapy, Making Art as if the Whole World Mattered. Environmental and women's issues, as well as the formation of ecological identity in culturally different youth, remain Ms. Woolery's strongest research interests.
Pepe Vargas
Pepe Vargas is the Founder of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, born in 1985 as the Chicago Latino Cinema (CLC), a nonprofit organization which annually presents the Chicago Latino Film Festival. Mr. Vargas supported Courbon's initiatives, both as a filmmaker and as a cultural promoter. In addition, the ILCC acted as fiscal sponsor for her previous work, and has agreed to continue to support her most recent initiatives.
Carolina Posse
Carolina Posse is an Independent Filmmaker and Director of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, born in 1985 as the Chicago Latino Cinema (CLC). She graduated from Chicago's Columbia College majoring in Production of Film and Video. She received the Hermann Conaway Outstanding Recognition Award and the Academic Excellence Award Scholarship the same year, for her short film productions. She was awarded the Al Lira Scholarship Fund from Leo Burnett for her documentary "The Stone Cutter's Son." Courbon and Ms. Posse have mutual interests in Latino American filmmaking, especially Latina involvement in the film industry. Ms. Posse has guided Courbon through the fundraising stages and facilitated with valuable advice.
Jaime Mejia
Jaime Mejia is a Colombian Graphic Designer who contributed to Courbon's promotional design and poster creation.
Tachi Llamas
Tachi Llamas, a Colombian born artist and Graphic Designer, designed the letter head and logo for Courbon.