La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now)

2018 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

1:05:00 minutes

Manuel Correa

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La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now) by Manuel Correa follows a group of survivors of Colombia’s 50-year long armed conflict facing the impossible task of agreeing on a shared past. After half a century of carnage, Colombia achieved peace. Despite an agreement between the government and the Revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC_EP) being rejected by popular vote, the government chose to implement the agreements regardless, further polarizing the public opinion. Correa’s film portrays the lived experiences of different social spheres invested in peacekeeping; while scientists, academics, and activists attempt to find possible routes to normalize a war-torn society, a group of elderly mothers finds a direct way to approach the possible killers of their disappeared children, forging a necessary and genuine encounter in the attempt to find clues about their whereabouts. Although the number of atrocities is too impossible to account or present, it is estimated over two-hundred thousand people perished in the war and over twenty five thousand people disappeared by force. For many, amnesty and impunity seemed high prices to pay for potential peace. While several survivors in the film forgive the murders of their closest family members, the film asks how can a deeply divided society actually forgive and forget? La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now) is an account of the Colombian people’s search for closure and an ambitious reflection on remembering the past after war’s end.

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Manuel Correa’s practice deals with the reconstruction of post-conflict intergenerational memory in contemporary societies. As an artist often working with the visual language of documentary, Correa is critical of the relationship between cinema and the notion of “truth.” His work as a Forensic Architecture researcher also informs his films, which oftentimes feature strong visual data analysis graphics. By moving between intimate shots and data synthesis, the artist creates informative, sympathetic, and powerful films. Correa’s body of work is diverse and internationally recognized. His thorough investigations track transnational post-conflict traumas and draw connections between its subjects globally. For example, his 2018 film La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now) , addresses the search for collective meaning and accountability in the wake of Colombia’s 50-year-long armed conflict. More than anything, Correa’s practice is about the process of creating historical memory, both its promise and its fallibility.

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Colors:

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• violence.n.01
• reconciliation.n.01
• mourning.n.01
• documentary.n.01
• peace.n.01