ABOUT US
OUR JOURNEY
Yuma, Río Sonoro is a project we have been working on for the past four years. It started with the immense passion of Simón Hernández and Simón Mejía for music, documentaries and environment. Later, Paula Vaccaro and Liliana Andrade would join as producers, to form a strong team that contributes with different points of view, skills and experiences.
The project is in advanced development as the team has already explored the Magdalena river and has collaborated with communities in Río Viejo, Botón de Leiva, Mompox, Magangué, Remolino and Trojas de Cataca located along the river’s bank, exploring their rich musical heritage and casting main characters.
The film was launched at Good Pitch Colombia in 2018; and has participated in various Labs such as DocsLab at DocsMX and the Doc Lab at EICTV in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba as well as receiving support from the FDC – Colombian Film Fund – Proimagenes winning the Documentary Development Award in 2019.
The team has taken three trips to the river and have sailed on its waters to understand the musical history of the Magdalena. Characters, sounds, rhythms, instruments and songs have been identified.
A travel route has now been determined which will allow us to tell a story in a fluid and organic narrative.
SIMÓN MEJÍA
DIRECTOR
Visual artist and music producer based in Bogotá, Colombia. He’s the founder and producer of the internationally acclaimed band Bomba Estéreo (six times Grammy nominee). Since 2005, Simón has been involved with music productions and filmmaking as a director, editor and producer of documentary and short films as well as music videos and other artistic productions. Since 2015 he has been a leading voice in Colombia as an environmental activist working in projects and campaigns with organizations such as United Nations, WWF, The Nature Conservancy, Ford Foundation and Gaia Amazonas, among others.
SIMÓN HERNÁNDEZ
DIRECTOR
Producer and director with extensive documentary experience in the last 15 years. Simón has worked for several broadcasters like BBC, ARTE, CNN, TVE and TVC. His documentaries PIZARRO and LA VENGANZA DE JAIRO, have won various awards including Memory Award, Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano Festival (Cuba), Colon de Oro, Huelva Film Festival (Spain), Best Film Audience Award and Best Film FICALI (Colombia).
LILIANA ANDRADE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Founder and CEO of Velouria Media. Director, producer and journalist, Liliana has developed and produced documentaries, musical shows, cultural projects, reality shows, specialized interviews, live concerts, music videos, and other audiovisual projects in Latin America. With 15 years of experience, she has been part of at least 60 international productions for MTV, Discovery Chanel, Fox, Much Music, HTV, TNT, MSN, and Pantaya, among others.
PAULA VACCARO
COPRODUCER
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Paula is an award-winning producer, scriptwriter, and journalist, with almost three decades of experience working in film, TV, online, radio, and printed media in various languages and three continents. In 2009, she founded PINBALL LONDON, a production company based in London, UK, bringing a multi-cultural and intersectional perspective from internationally celebrated directors and new filmmakers. The company produces narrative and documentary features, drama series, and animation directed to date by filmmakers from over 15 countries. Under her leadership, PINBALL LONDON has won over sixty international awards and all its films launched at A list festivals around the world such as Sundance, Berlinale, Venice, TiFF, San Sebastian and New York Film Festival. Some of her recent career highlights include winning at Venice Film Festival twice: in 2016 the Young Golden Lion for her production ON THE MILKY ROAD, directed by Emir Kusturica, and in 2020 as a producer and writer of LISTEN, the most awarded film at the festival, winner of two Lions, and four independent awards.
