L’Etreinte du Fleuve
(LOS ABRAZOS DEL RÍO)

Deep in the waters of the Magdalena River, where they fish, Colombian farmers are accustomed to seeing the Mohan, a mythical river monster and a greater charmer who teases the fisherman, engrossing their wives and entangling their nets. But these days, the local people have an even greater fear than Mohan – the paramilitary. Now all the Magdalena River conceals in its depths are corpses… Stunning landscapes that fishermen say inhabited by spirits are succeeded by hard and straightforward accounts given by women who have lost a son, a brother. With a sense of rare cutting accuracy, Nicolás Rincón Gille shows the transition from symbolized violence – that of a religious syncretism fruit of African religions and Christianity – and a very real violenc : the crimes committed by the paramilitary, which has struck terror into the hearts of all. Charlotte Garson