DukeEngage Colombia (Shorts Program) + Bila Burba

The 2025 North Carolina Latin American Film Festival presents a program of shorts from DukeEngage Colombia + Bila Burba (Duiren Wagua, 2023, 70 min, Panama)

SENANUDLA. Pueblo de Mujeres (A Women’s Town)
(Pa’lante Producciones, 2025, 2 min, Colombia, Digital)

The indigenous town of Senanudla is full of life, and women are the keepers of the community. This short animation was co-produced with the children and families of the town of Teyku. Every Friday, moms and dads serve as teachers at the one-classroom, multigrade school, passing on their traditions and knowledge to the children. The locations and characters in this animation were made by Indigenous children during a creative workshop. The materials and aesthetics mirror the town that they live in.

Introduced by: Elizabeth Sayler and Nicole Beltrán Trejo

TEYKU. Una escuela soñada (A Dream School)
(Pa’lante Producciones, 2025, 7 min, Colombia, Digital)

In the proximity of an archeological site of the Tayrona (Pueblito Chairama), a new Kogui town is emerging. After centuries of displacement from their ancestral territories, this group is returning to Teyku (a former artisanal center), where they have found traces of their ancestral culture and now, after a calamity and a dream, a school has been created to reclaim their language and form of life.

Introduced by: Artivista Karlin

⁠GUNMAKU. Reexistir (Re-existence)
(Pa’lante Producciones, 2025, 20 min, Colombia, Digital)

Gunmaku was the first of ten frontier indigenous towns created in the early 2000s as part of restitution for violence suffered by the four peoples of Sierra Nevada. For almost thirty years, the brave leaders of Gunmaku have worked in intercultural projects (the Gunmaku School district) as a way to negotiate their existence in this region. This documentary is a testament and a love letter to what educators and students do to thrive in frontier conditions. A place of learning, of peace with the past and with Mother Earth.

Introduced by: Dalia Patino Echeverri

MENSAJE DE LOS MAYORES (A Message from the Elders)
(Pa’lante Producciones, 2025, 5 min, Colombia, Digital)

This is the message, collected and workshopped with elder Mamos of the Kogui and Arhuaco peoples. A straight forward, and concise message from the elder brothers. Simple, clear, direct, and to the point.

P’alante Producciones: Nicole Beltrán Trejo, Artivista Karlin, Elizabeth Sayler, Miguel Rojas-Sotelo.

BILA BURBA
(Duiren Wagua, 2023, 70 min, Panama, Spanish and Dulegaya, Digital)

Every year the Gunadule, the original inhabitants of northern Panama, reenact their successful uprising in 1925 against the repressive Panamanian government. Keeping this past alive is crucial for preserving their collective identity.

Audience Award at Panama International Film Festival

Selected at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Costa Rica International Film Festival, and Ecofalante Film Festival