Latin America

Manuel Correa

La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now)

2018

La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now), 2018 (still)

La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now) presents the difficulties of writing history in order to achieve peace and reconciliation. It portrays the lived experiences of different social spheres invested peacekeeping: while scientists, academics and activists attempt to find possible routes to normalize a war-torn society, a group of elderly mothers find a direct way to approach the possible killers of their disappeared children, forging a necessary and genuine encounter in the attempt to find clues about their whereabouts. La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now) is an account of their search for closure and an ambitious reflection on remembering the past after war’s end.

Manuel Correa made the film during, and in response to, the signing of the peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP guerrilla faction. Although the number of atrocities is too impossible to account for or present, it is estimated over two-hundred thousand people have perished in the war and over twenty-five thousand people disappeared by force. After the peace deal was in limbo, after it was rejected by popular vote, the government chose to implement the agreements regardless, further polarizing the public opinion. For many, amnesty and impunity seemed high prices to pay for potential peace. While several survivors in the film forgive the murders of their closest family members, the film asks how can a deeply divided society actually forgive and forget?

Manuel Correa’s practice deals with the reconstruction of post-conflict intergenerational memory in contemporary societies. As an artist often working with the visual language of documentary, Correa is critical of the relationship between cinema and the notion of “truth.” His work as a Forensic Architecture researcher also informs his films, which oftentimes feature strong visual data analysis graphics. By moving between intimate shots and data synthesis, the artist creates informative, sympathetic, and powerful films. Correa’s body of work is diverse and internationally recognized. His thorough investigations track transnational post-conflict traumas and draw connections between its subjects globally. For example, his 2018 film La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now), addresses the search for collective meaning and accountability in the wake of Colombia’s 50-year-long armed conflict. More than anything, Correa’s practice is about the process of creating historical memory, both its promise and its fallibility.

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Manuel Correa La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now)

Manuel Correa

La Forma del Presente (The Shape of Now)