‘My Home, Medellin’ a documentary series launched on Tuesday

In the Moravia Cultural Development Center, from four in the afternoon (4:00 pm), people can attend the exhibition of this documentary work, the result of three months of an internship a group of students from Duke University took in our city. Admission is free.

• The series comprises 20 documentaries, five minutes each, in which positive stories that happen in Medellin are presented; these evidence the efforts made on development and to overcome adversity in our slums.
• This U.S. Duke University’s project is supported by the Ministry of Social Welfare and the ‘Medellín Solidaria’ Program from the city Mayor’s Office, and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin.
• The ACI has accompanied the project from Duke University and raised the possibility of having the recordings here; it also contributed to the academic committee to carry out its activities smoothly, until the final audiovisual material was completed.

On Tuesday, August 10th, at four in the afternoon (4:00 pm), at the Moravia Cultural Development Center, it will be presented the documentary series ‘My home, Medellin’. This audiovisual work is the product of intense research and production, a group of teachers and students from the American Duke University finalized after three months in our city.

The directors, Jota Samper and Tamara Marko, will attend the exhibition.

The series comprises 20 documentaries of five minutes each, and they illustrate the most remarkable issues of the struggle for change and development of living conditions of people living in Medellin, especially in the neighborhoods where the adverse economic situation and violence continue to impose challenges to the community and the government.

The challenges consist in generating greater levels of citizen development.

Thanks to the inclusion of stories of ordinary people that face every day the transform of this reality and promote, in the majority of cases with the support of the Mayor’s Office, better conditions for themselves and their fellow citizens.

According to the producers of the project, the idea with ‘My home, Medellin’ is contributing to the construction and diffusion of the new history of Medellin without disguising the situation of the city, through the submission of projects that aim to raise quality life of the inhabitants.

"We are interested in the perspectives of people living and working in the heart of these urban projects. Through stories told by the community members in their own words and pictures, we focus on two narratives: the prospects for urban projects and the stories - the legacy of families, the community and city that individuals want to pass on to their children, grandchildren and future generations," says Jota Samper, a PHD candidate in the Department of Planning and Urban Studies at Duke University, also leader of the project.

In short, the documentary series is intended to preserve for future generations of Medellin the legacy individuals, families and entire communities that today face the challenges proposed by the development of the city, and also file, for the academia, the reasons for these people not to give up their hopes and dreams for a better future.

In addition, this project documents and validates through the testimony of the direct beneficiaries, the citizens, the positive impact that urban interventions such as streets, parks, schools and libraries, among other works developed in the city, have in their lifestyle.

Finally, these documentaries will allow sharing visions and stories of people and places that are not usually presented in the media, movies or academic works about the reality of Colombia and Colombians.

The resulting material of this audiovisual, photographic and written work, is available from now through the Internet on http://dukeengageinmedellin.blogspot.com, a website where visitors can access all the information in English and Spanish.

Invitation by: Medellin Mayor’s Office; Social Welfare Secretariat; ‘Medellín Solidaria’ Program; Agency of Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area – ACI; Duke University; Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellin; and Emerson College.