Ana Elena Tejera
Locarno Residency 2023 | Panama
Locarno Residency 2023 | Panama
Panamanian multidisciplinary artist in the fields of film and performance. She was artist in residence at Le Fresnoy. She was chosen as Berlinale Talent 2023. She worked on the restoration of part of the Panamanian film archive at the Filmoteca de Catalunya and on the creation of the "Festival de la Memoria", a series of performative installations in urban spaces with political archive images and sound performance. Panquiaco, his first documentary film, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. His latest short film, A Love Song in Spanish, participated in the official competition at the Berlinale and at the MoMA. Her first virtual reality film Mosquito: A Wound Story premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
2020 Documentary Panquiaco
2021 A Love Song in Spanish
Production: Cine Animal
Panamanian soldiers from the School of the Americas strive to clean up the waters of an artificial lake that once submerged the communities of Corte Culebra valley. Ernesto, a military man, has a visceral relationship with the lake. One day he meets Celia, a former inhabitant of the Corte Culebra, who awakens Ernesto's personal memories and triggers a profound exploration of the lake. As traditional water-cleaning methods are being replaced by new US technologies, Ernesto's memories intensify, unveiling the historical wounds of the land and leading him into a state of pure vulnerability.
The film part of the visceral relationship between Ernesto and the land beneath his feet. One where his violent memories, imprinted on his body like a landmark, drive him to search for the root of his wounds. Leading him to navigate towards vulnerability as a means to transform these scars from the earth. A story that begins in the man-made valley Corte Culebra in Panama, a hybrid place that connects but at the same time divides lands and oceans.