Crab Trap

"Oscar Ruiz Navia's debut feature captures a part of Colombia rarely seen on film, the black communities of its Pacific coast. Cerebro (or “Brain,” played by Arnobio Salazar Rivas), the leader of the Afro-Colombian community that inhabits the isolated village of La Barra on Colombia's Pacific coast, is trying to adjust to the advent of modernity represented by El Paisa (the White Man), a landowner who wants to build a beach resort. The loud reggaeton that emanates non-stop from El Paisa's speakers plagues the tranquillity of local residents. He also seeks to erect fences on the beach in a community that has long been open and free of barriers. The villagers never bothered or knew it was necessary to have documents attesting to ownership of the land they have lived on for many generations. Daniel (Rodrigo Vélez) arrives at La Barra looking for a boat in which to flee the country. The village is little more than a point of exit for him. He stays at Cerebro's home, asking for a discount on his room in exchange for helping Cerebro with work. Daniel has money, but it's for something else, and not worth spending in La Barra. A strange shortage of fish has affected the community, and the fishermen have been sailing far out to sea in hopes of finding new resources. This circumstance makes Daniel's search for a boat much more difficult, and he is forced to stay in the village longer than planned. He befriends young Lucia, who wants him to buy his lunch from her mother in return for help. Elegantly enhancing the distance between the locals and the foreigners, Ruiz Navia uses non-professional actors from the area to contrast with the two outsider characters, who are played by professionals. Crab Trap registers the languid pace of these remote villages while alerting us to the oncoming clash with modernity and how it is beginning to disastrously affect the lives of local peoples." Quoting Diana Sanchez on the 2009 TIFF site.