Synopsis
Armed conflicts are scenarios in which there only seems to be death and destruction. In those moments, life seems to wither at the rifle´s sounds. If this is so, it is possible to love someone when you are surrounded by death? In “Love in Conflict” ex-guerrilla members and their lovers offer us an honest and disturbing look at their relationships during the most violent years of the half-century war in Colombia.
As an expression of something deeper and broader, this animated documentary presents six love stories that developed fighting against gender roles, military discipline or the passage of time. These love stories, from their diversity and complexity, provide us with insights into obscure and forgotten aspects of the reality of the conflict in Colombia.
The film present the testimonies of three couples:
Laura y Jaime
Among the prisoners of the Colombian prison La Picota, this story is based on the life of Laura, a transgender woman from the Santa Fe neighborhood in Bogotá and Jaime, a militant of the FARC-EP. In prison, the couple fell in love during the initial period of the peace talks in 2012. Their relationship was a source of criticism and recrimination on the part of the prison population, but with special anger by Jaime’s comrades. The couple managed to overcome these challenges. Currently, both are serving sentences, Jaime teaching and writing, and Laura specializing in human rights issues and as an activist of an LGTBI collective.
Kathe y Esteban
Katherine and Esteban are two of the most veteran ex-combatants in their reincorporation camp. They met 25 years ago and have been a couple for 22 years. They were separated at different times by the dynamics of the confrontation and the jail, in which Esteban spent a few years. Eventually, they met again and remained together since then. They decided not to have children. Today Kathe is dusting off her passion for writing and photography and Esteban returned to her peasant roots and is in charge of a shed of laying hens while continuing his educational process.
Lucy y Walter
They met in the reincorporation process. Lucy is an ex-guerrilla leader and Walter is an escort. She has an 18-year-old daughter who is studying Medicine, which she had with another guerrilla. Walter has 2 young children whom he cares for since his ex-partner left. Lucy is a leader of the FARC political party in the region today. Walter arrived at the ETCR as part of the State security scheme. Coming from two extremes of the conflict, they both have learned to love each other and gained a large family in the process.