Colby-Sawyer to Host Film on Kidnapping of Colombian Senator and Presidential Candidate Ingrid Betancourt
by Amber Cronin '10
NEW LONDON, N.H. - Colby-Sawyer College will present a documentary, “The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt,” about the recently released Colombian presidential candidate.
The documentary, part of the college's Human Rights and Social Justice Film Series, will be shown Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in Clements Hall at the Curtis L. Ivey Science Center. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to attend.
In February 2002, Colombian presidential candidate Senator Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, making her one of the thousands of victims in Colombia's 40-year civil war. The film follows Betancourt up to the moments before her disappearance and continues to tell the story of her family's desperate and continuing quest to free her and keep her campaign alive.
Using voiceovers from radio interviews taken before she was abducted, footage from the campaign trail and a chilling proof of live video released by her captors, Betancourt narrates her own story. The film captures the dedication of ordinary Colombians to free their country from corruption and civil war, and provides context for Betancourt's dramatic rescue.
Betancourt's impassioned calls for an end to political corruption and Colombia's vicious civil war had made her a popular public figure, but a dangerous instigator to many within her country's political machine, according to the web site, Women Make Movies. The film “brilliantly captures both the human tragedy of the war in Colombia and the enormous courage and resilience of Colombians who are working diligently for peace, democracy and social justice,” says William Leo Grande, dean of the School of Public Affairs at American University.
In July of 2008, Colombian soldiers posing as non-governmental organization members flew into the compound Betancourt and the others were kept in and rescued her, along with three Americans and 11 members of the Colombian Security Force.
The event is sponsored by the Colby-Sawyer College Cultural Events Committee.
Amber Cronin '10 is a Colby-Sawyer College student who writes for the Colby-Sawyer College Communications Office.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience. Visit us at www.colby-sawyer.edu.
Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000
