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Rapping at Fear
By Richard Propes | April 13, 2008
Andrés Tabares, 6:44—Do movies really matter? Can a short film possibly make a difference in this world? Andrés Tabares, a high school senior from the slums of Bogota, Colombia sure thinks so.
Tabares is both the director and subject of Rapping at Fear, a short documentary currently competing in the 7th annual Media That Matters Film Festival, the self-described “premiere showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day.”
Tabares shot Rapping at Fear when he was 13-years-old, but rather than being the vanity project of a self-centered teenager, this film is simply another step in Tabares’ already long history of speaking out against the violence in Colombian slums. In a place filled with social cleansing groups, Tabares, who risked his life by speaking out against these groups in his pre-teen years, has found that his gift for words resonates with fellow Colombians. A street rapper in the finest sense of the word, Rapping at Fear features both a determined and playful Tabares boldly speaking out as the graffiti-soaked concrete behind him host death threats to anyone who dares to question the authority of the various slum gangs.
Beautifully photographed, the film combines Tabares’ narrative with what could best be described as primal animation and live-action that captures both the reality and the fantasy of this creative young man’s daily life of poverty and violence. Winner of the festival’s “Speak the Peace Award,” it avoids the pitfalls of many social justice films by trusting the power of its story and not falling into overt preachiness. Instead, Rapping at Fear is simply one young man’s effort to create a peaceful life for himself and his people.
Andrés has joined City TV Bogota as a children’s TV host for almost a year, and continues to perform rap in Cazuca. He also belongs to a theater group in Taller de Vida.
One of a series of 11 short films created by teenage filmmakers from around the world, Rapping at Fear is, indeed, about the power of film and the power of one person to make a difference even when surrounded by fear, poverty and violence.
Watch it online at: Media That Matters
Topics: Amateur, Life & Society, Documentary |