Press release from SFS
Four Australian films have been invited to screen at The Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá (MAMBO) in Colombia, three of them produced at Sydney Film School.
Filmmaker Alvaro D Ruiz, a Sydney Film School graduate with Colombian citizenship, will present his work under a special program for up and coming Colombian filmmakers sponsored by MAMBO and the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Included in the program are ‘Amanecer’, ‘Trapped’, ‘Memory’ and ‘7:23’.
‘Memory’, ‘Trapped’ and ‘7:23’ were all produced in 2007 while Alvaro was studying at the Sydney Film School. The first of these he directed as his Thesis film project, in the second he took the role of Producer and was signed on as DOP for the third, ‘7.23’.
Since its completion in December 2007 ‘7:23’ screened at a number of Australian and International film festivals, winning the Grand Prix award at the unique One Take Film Festival held in Croatia in November 2008.
Shortly after graduating with a ‘Diploma of Screen’ Alvaro continued his filmmaking career with ‘Amanecer’, another short film set to screen at MAMBO.
Shot in Sydney in November 2007 the 14 minute long drama follows the story of a young South American immigrant who struggles to build a new life for his wife and children in Australia.
The film had its world premier at the recently held Dungog Film Festival. The MAMBO screening is its Colombian premier.
The event is organised by the Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá (MAMBO) and is attended by the leading Colombian media and some established filmmakers.
A Q+A session following the screening is set to include the launch of Alvaro’s production company ‘Puracé Pictures’ under which he will soon be shooting two music videos for a new Colombian singer, Contreras, and directing another short film.