LA CAJA NEGRA
Direction: Elisa Barbosa Riva
2024 Documentary Feature Film Development/production
Synopsis:
In the morning of October 28, 1969, a man identified as 'David Chavarriaga' in the Colombian Pacific coast hijacked Avianca flight HK 1022 and rerouted it to Cuba, where, years later, he would become a cult 'Cuban writer'. Half a century later, as his figure begins to fade away, the director behind this documentary struggles to preserve his memory, confronting the fleeting nature of human remembrance. Recalling the tumultuous Latin America of the 1970s, the film is a reflection on the passing of time, the traps of looking back and the need to delve into our fragile collective memory.
Bio Director:
"Born in Uruguay in 1988. Hold’s a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences (Uruguay) and is a graduate on Cinematography at the International Film and TV School (EICTV) in Cuba. Currently doing a master’s degree on Creative Documentary Filmmaking at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. She has served as cinematographer on a number of documentary short and feature films that have been screened and won awards in film festivals such as Locarno, Berlinale, Vision du Réel, Mostra de Sao Paulo and IDFA. Her credits as cinematographer include Los perros de Amundsen (Rafael Ramírez, Cuba, 2017), a 16mm short film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, as part of the official selection ‘Pardi di domani’; the short film Antes de Madrid (Ilén Juambeltz and Nicolás Botana, Uruguay, 2023), premiered at the 2023 Berlinale’s Generation 14plus, and Balomania (Sissel Morell Dargis, Denmark, Spain, 2024), a documentary feature premiered at the 2024 CPH:DOX Film Festival. As a colorist, she has worked in the documentary feature El Bosco (Alicia Cano, Mutante Cine, Uruguay, Italy 2020, world premiere at IDFA); Ese soplo (Valentina Baracco, Monarca Films, Uruguay 2023), Carmín (Aldo Garay, Cordón Films, 2023), among others. Co-founder of Uruguay’s color grading post production company Artemisa Lab. La caja negra is her first film as director.
Awards:
Plataforma de Desarrollo de proyectos Nuevas Miradas (Cuba, 2018).
Pitching Documental Doc Montevideo (Uruguay, 2019).
Plataforma IB - Campus Latino DocsLab DocMx (México, 2019).
Funds Earned:
Fondo desarrollo ACAU
Fondo desarrollo PUA
Fondo Producción documental ACAU
Fondo Producción FONA
PUA línea A Producción
Fondo MVD FILMA
Fondo MVD Socio Audiovisual
Fondo Coproducción Ibermedia
Characteristics:
Production:
Release Year: 2025
Production Year: 2024
Majority Production Country: Uruguay
Duration: Feature Film
Status: Development/production
Type: Documentary Film
Isabel García
Pancho Magnou Arnábal
Cast:
Script:
Dora Salazar
Hilda Sosa
Elisa Barbosa Riva
Production House:
Montelona Cine
Contact:
isabel@montelona.uy