Cali – The Hostage City

By Natalia Suarez, Thomas Sady

Known as the hub of the drug cartel, Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, is victim of a vast wave of kidnappings. Left-wing rebels, paramilitary groups and bandits are going so far as the practice « la pesca milagro » – « miracle fishing » – by carrying out mass abductions. The film focuses on the hostage-taking dilemma through a daily radio program, « Voices of Liberty », which allows families to send messages to kidnap victims. Through these many testimonies of people from all walks of life, we follow the everyday tragedy of Cali’s citizens, their unbearable anxiety and the all-too-rare joy of being reunited with their loved ones.