Estamos en el mapa

We Are on the Map is a narrative documentary about a neighbourhood in Bogota, Colombia, that is in part photographed by Google Earth and in-part absent. Santiago Rodriguez Cardenas navigates through each prominent area in their neighbourhood, highlighting the strength, struggles, and aspirations of their community. Different areas bring memories of their childhood, urban legends and neighbours. In the background are service delivery protests. Not documented are the spaces dominated by gangs and crime, the unseen peripheries where even the universal institution of the map does not reach. The documentary excellently uses the map as a tool to tell the stories of what maps usually leave out—people.

¿Qué significa estar en el mapa? Las personas que llegaron a construir el barrio La Estrella y que aún habitan allí se reúnen a tomar onces para compartir y recordar historias: los orígenes, la construcción del barrio, los procesos organizativos en torno a las necesidades básicas y las dinámicas de limpieza social son algunos de los hitos que los vecinos reconstruyen y que reflejan la historia de Ciudad Bolívar.