Sombra de Paz

Twenty years after the assassination of her professor, the Colombian film director Diana Rojas returns to her war-torn homeland, faces the dark history of her country and searches for signs of hope.

Twenty years after the assassination of her professor, the Colombian director Diana Rojas returns to her home country. The late confession of an armed group, which raises more questions than answers, leads her on a cinematic journey about a painful past, relentless violence and longed-for reconciliation.

She meets the professors‘ son, who continues to seek justice, a courageous judge, who is committed to truth and reparation, and a former guerrilla commander, who is now a politician trying to take responsibility. At the same time, she meets former fighters, who were recruited as children and are now struggling for a new life on the margins of society. The deeper Diana delves into the lives of these protagonists, the more the history of Colombia, a country characterised by poverty, drug trafficking and weak institutions, is revealed.

Sombra de Paz is an intimate and multi-layered examination of a society between war and peace – a portrait of people who move in the grey areas between victim and perpetrator. At the same time, the film asks whether change is possible – and what it takes for healing to happen. In a country where critical thinking can be dangerous, Diana herself becomes a seeker – on her journey between fear, memory and hope. In the end, it is human resilience that touches her deeply: the ability to rise again after war. A breath of hope in times of global uncertainty – like the first flight of a butterfly after it is born.