Film Matters: Please tell us about your article that is being published in Film Matters.
Vanessa Anzola Castellanos: My article is about the Colombian documentarist Marta Rodríguez; she is one of the first documentary filmmakers in Colombia and her work focuses on advocating for human rights. In my article, I described how she uses ethnography to portray reality and the effect her documentaries have in the communities that she films.
FM: What research and/or methodologies do you incorporate in your article?
VAC: My research consisted of a qualitative approach, analyzing Rodríguez’s films, reading academic journals and dissertations about her, and listening to interviews she gave in film festivals. For the article, I watched Chircales (1972), PLANAS, testimonio de un etnocidio (1971), TESTIGOS DE UN ETNOCIDIO, Memorias de resistencia (2004-2010), Soraya, amor no es olvido (2006), and the trailers for Campesinos (1975) and Amor, mujeres y flores (1988). I found interviews of her sharing behind-the-scenes details of some of these movies, which helped to understand her film approach better.
FM: Describe the original context for/when writing this article while an undergraduate student.
VAC: When I chose this topic, I was taking a class on history of Latinoamerican documentary. It was a directed study with Dr. Mariana Johnson and for my final I had to write an article about a documentarist from Latinoamerica. During the class, I learnt a lot about different filmmakers from Chile, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina; however, I noticed there was not that much information on Colombian documentarists. I decided to investigate more, as a Colombian, and I found that the main Colombian filmmaker during the time of the Third Cinema was Marta Rodríguez. There is not that much information on her in English, but, thankfully, as she was launching a new documentary in 2022, a lot of her films and interviews were available in Spanish.
FM: What does your writing process look like?
VAC: I always start with the films, as the films say more about the director than the director herself. It was important for me to be able to see her style, then I researched more on the historical context to understand the themes and the difficulties making the documentaries. Then I listened to interviews with her and read articles and academic journals related to the topic. Once I felt comfortable about the topic, I talked with my professor to choose a focus and be more specific with my research.
FM: How have your personal experiences shaped and influenced your writing?
VAC: I love writing; it does not come easy to me, but it is a way I found to express myself. I previously studied communication, and that helped me to be more conscious when I write. My focus is to be cohesive and explain things so that others understand me. I am also more aware of not making personal claims without facts that back me up. I also like to write as if I was telling a story.
FM: What are your methods for finding diverse and relevant sources?
VAC: I search on the name of the director and the film titles in Google Scholar, the library databases, and Google Images, as sometimes this leads to articles or film festival pages. In the case of Marta Rodríguez, I used the Colombian Public Library to watch the films and get more information as well.
FM: Why is including marginalized voices in research important to you?
VAC: For me, it is important to give more visibility to marginalized voices to have a broad perspective of a topic. Diversity and inclusion are important to prevent that seclusion of only knowing about one specific thing and having only one point of view. That is very limiting, cuts creativity short, and provokes unfounded stereotypes. I have met people from other cultures, different to mine, and as an outsider you cannot understand customs the same way as when a person from the inside explains them. So, for me, it is important and necessary to include those voices in research.
FM: What aspects of the writing process were most challenging? Why?
VAC: For me, the most challenging part is the beginning and trying to find a focus and developing an outline. I like to read a lot and research, and for me everything feels important, so for me to try to narrow and be specific can be challenging. Sometimes, when the topic is not as common, like in this case, trying to find reliable sources can be challenging, too. I am glad Marta Rodríguez is still alive and making films, otherwise I am not sure I would have found so much about her.
FM: What’s a resistance point you hit in your writing, and how did you move past it?
VAC: The biggest one was to find the movies. I was able to watch two online, but I did not feel comfortable writing about Marta Rodríguez and her method without truly seeing her work in different time periods. Luckily, I have family in Colombia, and I was able to watch more films through the local library.
FM: What do you enjoy most about your article?
VAC: I like getting to know more about the director and learning more about her unique technique. During the Third Cinema movement, there was a variety of approaches, a lot of the filmmakers were focused on the urgency of the time and making very provocative films. It is amazing to think how she dedicated five years to making her first film and continues dedicating long periods of time to each of her films. It shows how much she cares about the communities she films, and it is quite different from what we see today, making films the fastest you can.
FM: How has the Film Matters editorial and publication process impacted the development/evolution of your article?
VAC: My article improved a lot; my first draft had a lot of mistakes and, thanks to the peer review, I was able to make a better article and be clearer about some of the ideas, like I learnt how to explain them better.
FM: What audience do you hope to reach with your Film Matters article and/or what impact do you hope it has on the field of film studies?
VAC: I hope more people get to know more about Colombian film history and how films can be used as an advocacy tool. More important, I hope that Marta Rodríguez serves as an example to understand how taking your time and being involved with the community you want to portray can be beneficial. I also hope people get the chance to watch her movies, and to understand how to be respectful with your subjects when making documentaries.
FM: How has your department and/or institution supported your work in film and media?
VAC: The film department at the University of North Carolina allows students to receive credit for direct studies classes, which are very personalized and consist of a professor expert in an area and a student wanting to learn more about it. This allowed me to learn more about documentary and Latinoamerican history, which is one of my main film history interests. The department has also supported me with equipment, spaces, and good teachers to develop my creative ideas as well.
FM: How has your faculty mentor fostered your advancement as a film scholar?
VAC: Thanks to Dr. Johnson, I was able to learn a lot about documentary and Latinoamerican film history. She was a great mentor, deeply knowledgeable. She pointed me to the right lectures and helped me build this article, as I do not have that much experience making academic articles. Thanks to her giving advice and explaining to me what to do and what to watch, I felt confident sending my research to Film Matters.
FM: What advice do you have for undergraduate film and media scholars?
VAC: Find a topic that you like or that you are passionate about and focus on learning the most that you can; find the mentors to grow that topic or technique; and, of course, keep an open mind to receive advice and to consume films that are different from what you are used to. Always consider the time the movie was made, to understand better its meaning, and how the story is presented to you and to whom the director is speaking through the film.
FM: What are your future plans?
VAC: For my film studies classes, I want to keep researching on more filmmakers from Latinoamerica, as the films focus a lot on social realism and inform us about the history of the country; but it gets lost and overlooked because of a lack of diffusion.
Author Biography
Vanessa Anzola Castellanos was born in Colombia and relocated to the United States in 2019. She obtained an AAS in Broadcasting at Central Piedmont Community College. She was awarded the SOAR Transfer Merit Scholarship to pursue a bachelor’s of arts in Film and a minor in Leadership Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
