Adieu Sauvage [Farewell Savage], a debut feature documentary (filmed in black and white) directed by Colombian-born Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, will be screened as part of the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) tonight, Monday, December 4, at 8:10pm. The screening takes place at the Teachers College Chapel, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, New York. State ID required to enter the building.
Adieu Sauvage [Farewell Savage] Directed by Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, 2023, 92 Minutes, Documentary, South Africa, Netherlands, Afrikaans, Zulu, English
Descriptions: “In this debut feature, Director Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, himself a descendant of an almost extinct indigenous Colombian community, went to meet the Cacuas, to talk about their feelings, their loves, their loneliness. In doing so, he reconnects with his own Indigenousness. With humor and tenderness, the Cacuas try to teach him what it is to be a native.”
“’I’m a descendent of a people who have more or less disappeared, all that’s left are a few indigenous and mixed-race people dotted around the world.’ Having arrived in Europe at the age of 19 and lived in Brussels for many years, Colombian Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento carries a complex idea of his identity deep inside of him, because not only is he living in exile, he’s also an Indian, and ‘being an Indian person in Colombia is a burden, a source of shame, so we tend to lie low and westernise ourselves.’ When the filmmaker learns that an epidemic of young indigenous people hanging themselves is raging through the jungle in his home country, he decides to visit the area in person, moved by a desire to investigate this phenomenon, but also to untangle his own confused feelings related to his roots. This journey is central to his wonderful first feature film (set in beautiful black and white tones) Adieu Sauvage [+], which world premiered in competition at the 45th Cinéma du Réel Festival.”
“In Colombia, the ‘whites’ think that the Indian of Amazonia does not feel anything because there are no words in his language to express feelings. Is it possible that a whole people feel nothing and have no words to speak of love? Director Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, himself a descendant of an almost extinct indigenous Colombian community, went to meet the Cacuas, to talk about their feelings, their loves, their loneliness. In doing so, he reconnected with his own Indianness.”
For more on the AIFF screening, see https://adiddnyc.eventive.org/schedule/652ce525caa8c700909c47a6
For more information, see https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/440497/ and https://www.cinemadureel.org/en/films/adieu-sauvage/
Also read interview (in Spanish) with the director at https://cineuropa.org/es/interview/446018/
Adieu Sauvage [Farewell Savage], a debut feature documentary (filmed in black and white) directed by Colombian-born Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, will be screened as part of the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) tonight, Monday, December 4, at 8:10pm. The screening takes place at the Teachers College Chapel, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, New York.