Catapum: Nowhere to Fall

Palu Abadia is a Colombian-born filmmaker and visual artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She has worked as a director, cinematographer, and film editor for different projects, including short and long documentaries. She has exhibited her work in festivals and galleries in the USA and abroad. Her personal work ranges from experimental video to documentary films, specializing in complex topics that intermingle identity, culture, gender, and immigration.

Having lived in different countries (Colombia, Argentina, Italy, USA), I’ve always thought about identity, territory, and immigration. As a documentarian, I use film and video to explore these questions. I believe stories can be used to empower, heal, and share different perspectives. Through my work, I aim to connect with people on a heartfelt level, open minds, and learn together. It’s also a way to go through the world and share stories about subjects who struggle, resist, yet exemplify bravery, focus, and passion, people who fight for things they believe in to make their communities better.

Discovering Bullerengue for the first time in New York was huge for me. Although I’m Colombian, I was disconnected from my roots. The day I heard in Manhattan the powerful voice of Carolina singing a song about the slaves of Cartagena, I cried. At that moment I felt a kind of ancestral call to reconnect with my roots, to explore this tradition called bullerengue, and to understand why it had moved me so much. While working on short films about immigrants, undocumented workers, social justice, and artists in New York, I decided to start filming this story in NYC, but it wasn’t long before I realized that the story had to include filming in Colombia, the birthplace of the Bullerengue . As Carolina told me one day: “If you want to really understand Bullerengue, you have to go to the fiesta, where the masters are still alive”. I discovered a fascinating and bittersweet world. I met two masters, Ceferina and Pabla, who opened their homes and hearts to me. I returned three times and established close friendships and trust, sleeping on their floors, and filming their lives. This film shares a bit of this world and works as a catharsis for the represented voices.