From the Concrete Box

THE CALL (2010) is the latest short film made by Cineclub Waleker inside prisons. For months the members of the film club (Livia Montes, Pablo Zapata and Nelson Chávez) went to the Yare I Prison twice a week to discuss the script with the prisoners, to do the casting, to assign roles in the production, to record the films rehearsals and scenes, etc. This short film is a denunciation of the Venezuelan prison system, the overwhelming violence that reigns within its walls, and t...he indifference of society and state institutions. . . La Llamada (2010) es el último cortometraje realizado por el Cineclub Waleker dentro de las prisiones. Durante meses los miembros del cineclub (Livia Montes, Pablo Zapata y Nelson Chávez) fuimos a la Cárcel de Yare I dos veces por semana a discutir el guion con los muchachos, a realizar el casting, a asignar roles en la producción, a grabar los ensayos y las escenas, etc. Este cortometraje es una denuncia al sistema penitenciario venezolano, a la violencia desbordada reinante dentro de sus muros y a la indiferencia de la sociedad y las instituciones del estado. . Direction and Production by Cineclub Waleker . . #film #prisons #filmclub #prisoncinema #humanrights #prisonviolence #shortfilm #venezuelanprisons #hectorlavoe #salsa #carcelesvenezolanas #derechoshumanos #presos #cinepenitenciario #cineclubwaleker #cortometraje See more

In Venezuela Salsa is the music of the people. The Puerto Rican Ismael Rivera (Maelo) was one of the main exponents of the genre and within the prisons he has a great appreciation for his art and for having also been a prisoner. This documentary is a tribute to his figure, his music and his songs. In this fragment of the documentary made by Waleker Film Club, some inmates pay tribute to him doing a cover one of his greatest classics El Nazareno. . . En Venezuela La Salsa es l...a música del pueblo. El puertorriqueño Ismael Rivera (Maelo) fue uno de los principales exponentes del género y dentro de las cárceles tiene un gran aprecio por su arte y por haber estado también preso. Este documental es un homenaje a su figura, su música y sus canciones. En este fragmento del documental realizado por el Cineclub Waleker, unos internos le rinden homenaje versionando uno de sus grandes clásicos, El Nazareno. . Direction and Camera: Livia Montes Edition: Pablo Zapata @pd_zapata Music: Ismael Rivera . . #prison #filmclub #humanrights #ismaelrivera #elnazareno #film #penitenciary #venezuela #venezuelanprisons #documentary #violence #yare #music #salsa #maelo #jail #carcelesvenezolanas #derechoshumanos #presos #cineclub #waleker #cinepenitenciario See more

From left to right: Alberto Alvarado, Prisoner 1, prisoner 2, prisoner 3, Domingo Marrero, Peter Hidalgo, Pablo Zapata and Livia Montes. YARE I Prison, Venezuela. Foto: Adriana Tognella

Livia Montes was a Venezuelan social worker and documentalist who developed her work in Venezuelan prisons for more than 20 years. His journey began in the 90s at the Retén de Catia, one of the prisons located in the capital Caracas and one of the most neglected and dangerous in the country, where overcrowding, violence and despair reigned. Every week Livia arrived at the prison with her Waleker film club, with her 16mm projector on her back and some cans of celluloid films i...n a backpack; among them some of silent films such as Chaplin and others of universal and Venezuelan classic cinema. These films were carefully selected by Livia, her intention was for the prisoners to identify with the characters in these films, where the protagonists were almost always vagabonds, criminals, poor and excluded who, despite the adverse conditions of life they led, manifested within himself a great hope, a strong desire to fight and a great love for life. Livia wanted to show these people positive values such as solidarity, peace, brotherhood, justice, honesty, etc. The cinema shown by the film club was a reflection of the human condition itself within these spaces deprived of freedom, generating very deep reflections and debates where they, the prisoners, could finally unburden themselves and be listened to, coming to feel that they could finally overcome the silence and overcome the oblivion to which society subjected them. Foto: Frank Carrillo