Filming begins this December for En el taller, a portrait of Colombian painter Carlos Salas in his work space, directed by Ana María Salas, his daughter.
Carlos Salas' studio, located in a rather unsettling area of Bogota, is large, with high ceilings, white walls, and a captivating atmosphere. The painter has lived and worked in that space, the film's sole location, for twenty years. The filmmaker follows Salas in his work and everyday activities, from his earliest tracings on a large circular canvas to the final brushstrokes that complete the painting. The documentary will reveal the step-by-step evolution of the work, as well as the painter's explorations, the obstacles he encounters, the paths he chooses to follow in the process, and the way in which the realities of Colombia, entering the studio in different ways, impact him.
Thanks to her special relationship she has with her father, Ana María Salas seeks to penetrate Carlos' private universe and perceptions, illuminating the connections between his painting, his personal life, and the context of Colombia. En el taller is also an artistic proposal in itself, where film and painting sustain a unique dialog.
The circular painting to be created during the film will be an axis of the retrospective show slated at MAMBO (Bogotá) for February 19th, 2014.
Filming for the documentary will take place between December 12th through January 19th, in Bogotá. The team is seeking financing for the post-production stage.
Carlos Salas was born in Colombia in 1957 An architect by profession as well as a painter, he has made important contributions in the field of abstraction, confronting imagination with evocation, opening fields of perception for the viewer, and new ways of treating space in painting. Salas's career has included exhibitions in Latin America, Europe, and the United States: Paris, Madrid, Geneva, New York, Caracas, and San José de Costa Rica, among others. In parallel, he has been active as a promoter of the arts in Colombia, as a founder of spaces such as Gaula (1991), Espacio Vacío (1996), and Galería Mundo, which he helmed along with Mundo magazine between 2001 and 2011.
Ana María Salas, director and producer of En el taller, studied film and philosophy in Bogotá and Paris. Based on her decade-long film diary, Ana María Salas created the short film and installations Reflejos (2008) and her first two long-format documentaries: Frente al espejo (2009) and En la ventana (2011). The latter won the Best Colombian Director award at the 4th Women in Film Showcase (Bogotá, 2012). A second installation based o her diary will be presented in Medellín in February, 2014.
Contact: Ana María Salas – anasalmar@gmail.com