El Amparo

synopsis

At the end of the 80’s, by the creeks of the Arauca River, near the Colombian – Venezuelan border, two men survived the brutality of a shooting in which 14 of their mates were killed. They claimed to be mere fishermen, but the Venezuelan army accused them to be guerrilla fighters, intimidating them in every possible way and even attempting to remove them from the cell where they were guarded by a policeman. Their neighbors prevented their transfer, but the pressure they faced to give in and submit the official version was overwhelming.

about the director

Rober Calzadilla was born in Maturín, Venezuela. He studied in the Escuela de Artes Escénicas Juana Sujo acting school and graduated from the School of Arts of Universidad Central de Venezuela with a major in filmmaking. He’s an actor, screenwriter and director with theater experience. He wrote and directed the short films Línea Paterna (2006) and El Anzuelo y la Atarraya (2009). He participated in the direction of the news story La Masacre de El Amparo, 20 Años de Impunidad (2008); he wrote, directed and edited his first medium-length film El País de Abril, an experimental B&W piece that was post-produced in Portugal, sponsored by the Programa Ibermedia, and awarded with a Special Mention in the Venezuelan Film Festival in 2013.