From the Other Side
Dir.
Iván Guarnizo
|
Colombia-en
|
2021
|
83 min
|
Documental
Prod.:
Gusano Films Coprod. Salon Indien Films (España), Rtvc (Colombia)
Impact Prod.:
Gustavo León, Jorge Caballero
Audiovisual works can influence audience meta-perceptions around peacebuilding, reconciliation, and truth.
Synopsis
After the peace agreements, the war between the FARC and the Colombian state appeared to have ended, but the situation was far from stable. Two brothers began to investigate the kidnapping of their mother. When they found the diary she kept during her captivity, they discovered she had developed an almost mother-child relationship with her captor. With most guerrilla fighters having laid down their arms, the filmmaker decided to search for him—and confront that dark chapter of their lives.
- Democracy, Human rights, Peacebuilding
- Mindset and perception, Structures and systems
Why learn about this impactful campaign?
For decades, we’ve evaluated our documentary distribution efforts using traditional success metrics—film festival selections, awards, and box office numbers. But those indicators fail to capture the deeper potential impact films can have on their audiences. This impact campaign was designed to tangibly measure changes in audience meta-perceptions—the underlying beliefs and attitudes people hold, particularly around sensitive topics like reconciliation and peacebuilding.
This project intentionally reached beyond traditional documentary audiences. From the Other Side deals with themes of reconciliation within the broader context of peacebuilding in Colombia. The campaign focused on quantitative impact evaluation among a more neutral, unbiased audience. To achieve this, the team partnered with behavioral scientists and peacebuilding organizations. This case study should be seen as a reference model for filmmakers, researchers, producers, scientists, policy makers, and others involved in the creation and distribution of audiovisual content.
