2025–2026

Colombia/Canada

Pablo Alvarez-Mesa (Colombia) is a filmmaker and cinematographer working mainly in non-fiction. His work is motivated by a long-standing interest in “structures of social control, especially soft power, which is a profound way through which societies and individuals relate and integrate ideologies and positions.” He studied design engineering at EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia, before earning a BFA at Simon Fraser University and an MFA in Film Production from Concordia University. Beginning with Bicentenario (2020) and continuing through 2024’s The Soldiers Lagoon, he has been working on a trilogy of films investigating the legacy and traces of Simon Bolivar in the land and life of contemporary Colombia. His films, including previous works such as Presidio Modelo (2009), Jelena’s Song (2010), and the short documentaries Speaking into the Air (2015) and La Pesca (2017), have played extensively at international film festivals including Berlinale, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Visions du Réel, RIDM, Hot Docs, and Media City Film Festival, winning awards from the Montreal Film Festival, Visions du Réel, and the Festival Internacional de CIne de Cali, Colombia. He has served on competition juries and programming committees for festivals including Visions du réel, Cinema du Réel, Bogota International Film Festival, and Camden International Film Festival. Alvarez-Mesa has held residencies at DocLisboa and Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión in Cuba, and is a past Berlinale Talents and Canadian Film Centre alumnus. He lives and works between Montreal and Colombia.

“Cinema is a medium in the most encompassing way, and through this medium we call on Simon Bolivar’s long lasting and influential soul for keys to understand the history and future of Colombia and the region. The land remembers times and events we have no knowledge of, and in the landscape remain the scars of history and the ghosts of today. Through these mediations we translate, transpose, and reinterpret our surroundings, seeking and providing alternate viewpoints in our efforts to understand our world.”

PABLO ALVAREZ-MESA DISCUSSES BICENTENARIO WITH ALBERTO DIANA OF FESTIVAL DE POPOLI

DOCS IN ORBIT PODCAST WITH PABLO ALVAREZ-MESA DISCUSSING THE SOLDIER’S LAGOON

PABLO ALVAREZ-MESA IN DISCUSSION WITH ROBINSON DIAZ OF FRONTERA SUR (SPANISH)

PABLO ALVAREZ-MESA DISCUSSING SOUND IN FILM AT UNION DOCS