Veteran Spanish actor Javier Cámara — who played Guillermo Pallomari, the chief accountant of Colombia’s Cali Cartel in the third season “Narcos” — took the starring role in “El Olvido Que Seremos” (English title: “Memories of My Father”) in part because of the Netflix series.
Cámara had the opportunity to know Colombia because “Narcos” was a huge success around the world, and he told TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman, “All this prejudice that we have about Colombia, about these countries, that have this amazing progress, and we have the same progress in our countries too but, we have only seen one side of the country.”
“I was willing to offer all my experience, all my love, and all my emotions, to do this film because it shows the other part of Colombia, the other side of Colombia, the bright side of this amazing country,” Cámara added. “It was amazing because we were not only giving all our energy, but they gave us all the love. I’ve never received more love in a film than with this film, it was amazing.”
“El Olvido Que Seremos” was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. The film is based on the memoir “Oblivion” by Héctor Abad Faciolince and centers on his father, Héctor Abad Gómez, a prominent doctor and human rights activist in the polarized and violent Medellín of the 70s. His criticism of the Colombian regime led to his murder by paramilitaries in 1987. Cámara stars as Héctor Abad Gómez.
Director Fernando Trueba shot “El Olvido Que Seremos” in 2019 and has faced challenges in building visibility for the film due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has delayed the official theatrical release of the film. In the meantime, Trueba’s film has been invited to some high profile film festivals. “The film was finished in February (2020), and then it got selected for the Cannes Film Festival, but the festival didn’t happen. Then we were invited to close the San Sebastian Film Festival and to close the Rome Film Festival,” Trueba said.
“We are waiting for the opening in Colombia, in Spain, in the States, in France but the idea is March, April of this year,” Trueba added.
Last summer, Cohen Media Group and Curzon acquired North American and U.K. distribution rights to “El Olvido Que Seremos” and hopes to release the film theatrically in both England and the United States later this year.
“El Olvido Que Seremos” also stars Juan Pablo Urrego, Patricia Tamayo, Aida Morales, and the film was produced by Caracol Television and DGP. Watch Sharon Waxman’s full interview with director Fernando Trueba and star Javier Cámara above.
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