Cinematic Realism and the Restoration of Everyday Life. An Interview with Víctor Gaviria

Colombian director, screenwriter and poet Víctor Gaviria is best known for the trilogy of movies Rodrigo D. No futuro (1990), La vendedora de rosas (1987) and Sumas y restas (2004). In these films he works with non-professional actors, inhabitants of marginalized neighborhoods of Medellín, to write scripts and act in the movies. These non-professional actors include street children, adolescents and members of other disadvantaged groups that are often involved in violent situations. For example, Rodrigo D. No futuro, which earned a Mention of Honor at the Cannes Film Festival, portrays the life led by directionless young men growing up on the outskirts of Medellín. By the time the movie came out all but one of the male protagonists in the movie had been killed. In La vendedora de rosas, a modern day version of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl, Gaviria works with street children to capture both the harshness and the beauty of street life. This movie won Official Selection at the Cannes and San Sebastian Film Festivals. Sumas y restas, based on the real-life experiences of a friend of Gaviria's, shows the influence of drug trafficking in Medellín in the 1980s. It won best film at the Cartagena Film Festival and was an official selection at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Gaviria has also directed short films such as Buscando tréboles¹ (1979) and La lupa del fin del mundo (1981).

In addition to directing films, Gaviria is an accomplished poet. He has published seven books of poetry including Con los que viajo sueño (1978) which won the Edward Cote Lamus Poetry Award and La luna y la ducha fría (1981), University of Antioquia National Poetry Award winner. Most recently, in 2006 the same university published an Antología poética: Victor Gaviria 1978-2003. Gaviria's poetry is often influenced by the relationships he develops while working on his films.

The following is an interview conducted in Spanish on the University of Kentucky campus on April 3, 2008, in which Gaviria discusses his philosophy of filmmaking. Alice Driver and Joshua Jennings Tweddell interviewed Gaviria, and then Mrs. Driver worked with Dr. Juana Suárez to translate the interview into English. This decision was made in order to expand the existing literature on Gaviria, and it is the first full-length interview with the filmmaker to be published in English in an academic journal.² Gaviria is currently working on a film called Sangrenegra,³ about a violent historical figure whose real name was Jacinto Cruz Usma. The film will focus on the 1950s and 1960s, a time known as La Violencia in Colombia. Gaviria also hopes to begin a film project in Spain related to immigration.

Alice Driver (AD): In La ciudad letrada Angel Rama talks about the power of men of letters: politicians, governors, priests and how they control the city. However, it is debatable whether the "lettered city" as such still exists, or if the media now has more power. What type of power do you have as a director to instigate change in society?

Víctor Gaviria (VG): That's a very difficult question. The media circulates differently than the productions of the lettered city; it is as if both of them were coming from very different perspectives. I don't know what the function of the media is in the U.S. Although the presence of the media is evident in Latin America, I'm not sure if it is the same here. In Latin America the media has an almost absolute power. It has substituted to some extent the power of the "lettered city," the academies and the universities and it has an absolute power over new generations and over our children. I think that in the U.S. the power of the media is balanced by the power of the sciences and academics. In Colombia the media has absolute power which it refuses to acknowledge. The function of the media as it is exported from...