Narratives of violence through indigenous eyes: Arhuaco filmmaking as a response to forced displacement

This paper investigates the way violence and forced displacement among the indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta contributed to their self-representation initiatives. Using the case study of Amado Villafaña, an Arhuaco filmmaker, this paper draws on extensive fieldwork in the Sierra which explored indigenous filmmaking and resulted in a collaborative documentary made with the protagonists. This paper demonstrates how violence in the region transformed Villafaña, the leader of Centro de Comunicaciones Zhigoneshi y Realizaciones Yokosovi, from a humble farmer to internationally recognised ambassador of the Arhuacos, and a charismatic promotor of indigenous filmmaking in Colombia and beyond. In the course of this research, it became clear that Villafaña's film initiatives did not result from artistic ambitions among the Arhuacos, but were a direct response to the brutal reality. The films made by the collective serve as a testimony, therapy, and a means of internal and external communication with the intercultural ambitions. After a dark period marked by films focused on bitter history, Vilafaña and his team slowly shifted towards more universal topics relating to the Arhuaco values and things they want to communicate to the world. Could it be the expression of accepting peace and starting a new chapter?