Belen

Belen, The echoes of a woman dedicated to the music of her people

How to film the absence of a character that during her life filled with music all the spaces she visited? This seems to have been the dilemma of director Adriana Vila before filming this posthumous portrait of Belén Palacios, a cultural leader, peasant and promoter of Quitiplá, an African-Venezuelan musical rhythm.

The result is a film where silence gives way to endless sounds. The voices from around the world of those who knew her would tell us anecdotes about her life. There is also the hollow blow of the bamboo-like stalks of Quitiplá generating a sweet rumble when they are hit against the floor.

Also, there is Belén's own voice that offers her testimonies during a series of interviews made through the years. All of the above make up a sound panorama that is nothing more than the echo of an existence that will mark for years the small cocoa village of Tapipa, on the north coast of Venezuela, the place she was born for good.