October, 1988. Early morning, in the small village of El Amparo, on the Venezuelan/Colombian border. Fourteen men prepare for a fishing trip. They argue with their wives, make breakfast, have some rum, and enjoy yet another normal day. Next morning, the local police has been told there’s been a shooting; two of the men, Chumba and Pinilla, return, shocked and despairing—the other twelve are dead, killed at the hands of the Venezuelan military, who thought the villagers were guerillas. Soon, the two men are faced with prosecution, and the villagers are turned against one another with the lure of money from politicians and reporters eager for a story. Based on a true story, El Amparo captures the devastation of this terrible incident, and wake that tore the village apart.
Director’s Biography
Rober Calzadilla: Rober Calzadilla was born in Maturín, Venezuela in 1975, and is an actor, screenwriter and director. He trained at the Juana Sujo School of Performing Arts and, in film, at the Central University of Venezuela School of the Arts. El Amparo is his first feature.