In Bogotá, a collective of Afro-Colombian women is using film as both an artistic practice and a tool for social transformation. Cimarrón Producciones, an audiovisual production company founded in March 2013, operates at the intersection of cinematography, community work, and cultural memory.
At the core of their practice is a simple but powerful belief: creativity and technical skill can help reshape narratives and contribute to social change. Much of the collective’s work focuses on documenting community processes and creating spaces where stories from marginalized territories can be seen and heard.
"We want to be part of the memory construction and the country’s social knitting. Much of our work is the visibility of processes in communities. We have worked with children and youth making political advocacy through art," says Zulay Riascos.
Today, Cimarrón Producciones is made up of five interdisciplinary Colombian women of colour: Heny Cuesta, founder and director; Karen González, co-founder and audiovisual filmmaker; Riascos, producer, filmmaker, and illustrator; Laura Asprilla, audiovisual communicator and filmmaker; and Maio Rivas, ethno-communicator and audiovisual producer. Each member brings a different set of creative and social practices to the collective, shaping a collaborative approach that blends filmmaking with community engagement.
"We realized what our contribution to the social transformation of the country should be and the need to make the processes and challenges of Afro-Colombian communities more visible by participating in different processes at national and international level," says Riascos.
For the collective, cinematography became the natural language through which to carry this work forward. Film allows them to translate lived experiences into visual narratives, addressing social realities through stories grounded in empathy and connection to different communities and territories.
Yet Cimarrón Producciones is not interested in working in isolation. The collective actively builds networks with other groups and projects across the African diaspora, expanding their creative ecosystem and finding inspiration in shared histories and memories.
"The different stories and memories we find in each population, because they are so different but at the same time they continue to bring us closer to the history of a country that seeks not to forget and forgive," Riascos explains.
Even with their growing body of work, the path has not been without barriers. As a team of women navigating a film industry that remains largely sexist, centralized, and elitist, access to funding, recognition, and institutional support continues to be limited.
"We hope that there will be social, ethnic and environmental changes to improve the current problems related to these issues," Riascos says and continues, "Despite finding obstacles, we have managed to enter artistic and social circles for the value of our work, because it has been our unique and creative cover letter made mostly by multidisciplinary Afro women."
The challenges faced by Cimarrón Producciones also reflect broader structural realities within the Latin American audiovisual landscape. Compared with North America and other regions, the industry’s reach is smaller, and financial support for cultural projects addressing diverse perspectives is often scarce. In response, many independent groups rely on international collaborations and cross-border alliances to sustain their work.
Within this environment, Cimarrón Producciones continues to refine a distinct visual language. Their references draw heavily from documentary traditions, but their storytelling remains flexible allowing multiple characters, voices, and perspectives to coexist within the same narrative space.
Through this approach, the collective is building more than a filmography. They are developing a socially conscious visual identity, one that seeks to preserve memory, amplify community voices, and reflect the cultural richness of the territories they come from.
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