Film Review: Don Ca - A portrait of a folk hero and a community's threatened way of life.

Don Ca (Mr Ca) by Patricia Ayala Ruiz, Colombia.Screening today 24 the  at 21:30 in the Salle Communale and tomorrow Thursday 25 the April at 10:15 in Capitole 1 Buy tickets online to this film hereDon Ca is portrait of a man with a social conscience and desire to be free.  His chosen home, the area of Guapi on the Pacific Coast of Colombia, forms the secondary character in this documentary through the depiction of its striking countryside, river and people. Living far from his home town and having renounced all its comforts and anchored traditions, Don Ca has chosen the simple life in a village community where he is respected. He has chosen freedom. Yet this freedom feels under threat - Guapi cannot shelter one from the realities of the 'big' Colombia of paramilitaries and guerillas. Choosing Home  We learn that Don Ca decided to leave his grand family and move to this area some 35 years ago in search of gold and with hunger for adventure. But quickly he felt as if he belonged here and able to help the community. Far from his birth place and happy to choose a life without the ease and material abundance of the city, many of his friends at first do not understand. Don Ca compares it to falling in love with an ugly woman – friends might not understand the appeal, but it does not matter as he is happy nonetheless. He is free to live as he chooses, naturally and without the weight of tradition. The rich colours and verdant explosions of Guapi quickly identify this area as a tropical and idyllic paradise. Don Ca's has pet monkeys; cockfighting is pastime, as are swims in the river. Life is simple and the community is happy. There is a physicality to life that is grounding. As Don Ca defines happiness, 'the distance between what you have and what you want', we feel that this village is content. Yet the slow hum of helicopters overhead announce a threat to the community's insouciant way of life – a malignant force that it is bigger than it and over which it has no control. A Way of Life Under Threat Tension builds after paramilitaries steal from the poor people of the region and Don Ca has to leave town for awhile after being designated a snitch. He returns to the hustle and bustle of the city and here we see the demands of tradition as he dresses up for the pomp of the Easter procession. Later  on in the documentary, thrilling shots of Carnival back in the Pacific Coast region stand in stark contrast to these restrained rites. Carnival shows raw energy and release – the feel of real celebration and joy. In striking and disturbing contrast to this episode, Patricia Ayala Ruiz places her shots of the paramilitary entering the village – these are eerie in their silence. Disconcerting also, as an innocence has been lost. Don Ca, the wise man of this village, a folk hero of sorts, hopes this is temporary. We too hope that the 'violence and anger' of Colombia, with its drugs and guns, does not overwhelm this peaceful community, far removed from such things. However, there is also the sinking feeling that one cannot hide from such a reality and that there are few places that can remain islands in our increasingly global world. We understand the consequences of these developments through Don Ca – if it is temporary, one can adapt, 'like a fish in a flash flood'. Yet if it is permanent, one must move or die.