ABC Colombia

Directed by Enrica Colusso

ABC COLOMBIA is an intimate portrait of a rural community in a part of Colombia entirely controlled by paramilitary forces, rendered through the eyes of the children who grow up there, and who are often forced into very difficult choices. Along the mountainous terrain of the Don Diego River, there is a small building of white cement on whose walls children have drawn the plants and wildlife of the region.

This is the school of the children of the campesinos, a single elementary class of 25 students between 5 and 15 years old, the age at which school ends for them. But not all children finish, as many must leave to work as coca-leaf pickers or to patrol the mountains as part of the paramilitary, defending the area?s enormous stretches of coca fields from infiltration by guerrillas or the army.

The documentary follows these young protagonists in this problematic setting through an entire school year, exploring some of the realities that nurture and perpetuate the violence in Colombia.

Funding for ITVS International films is made possible by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

More information about the film is available from the ITVS website.  Visit to learn more about ABC Colombia at-a-glance.