Corta

In Corta, Felipe Guerrero records the cultivation of sugar cane in the south-west of Colombia. In all its facets. With a fixed camera. A man walks into the frame, changes his clothes and starts hacking cane, seen from behind. After a few minutes, another one takes over from him. It carries on like that, in a tempo and rhythm – it demands some surrender – that has a very meditative effect. The men sharpen their knives and chop and chop. When they’re finished, enormous trucks drive back and forth and the countryside is set on fire.
Guerrero’s minimalist recording of the largely manual process is also an ode to the craft of film: the filmmaker used six 16mm rolls of 11 minutes; the rhythm of the slashing knives determines the rhythm of the editing. Between the different, beautifully photographed scenes are sections of black, occasionally we hear music, often only for a couple of seconds, and that helps shape the mood.

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