A research in documentary filmmaking. Shot in the base of my being and with the camera I bought this year. A combination of dramatic images, inviting dialogues and a story about family whilst the river is flowing. It's not a fairytale but it works like one. This is an experiment and I'd like to present it.
Daniel Zeeland, 2021
Haber sido y ser ya no puede ser
What has been and is, can not be anymore
Transmilenio is Bogotás main public transport system. The city has been waiting for a metro for a long time, but due to reasons like corruption it still hasn’t been developed. In the late 90s the transmilenio was developed. A public transport system using buses with their own lanes. This has helped the mobility immensely. And it also created a space where people could find their means.
All the people you hear in the film share the fact that they are in some way asking for money.
The title is a wordplay on transporte publico, public transport. It’s about trans the public. Through the public. To find the individual within this group. This is what I have done and what the ‘artists’ in the film do. They try to touch the individual in the anonymity of the public transport.
The bus moves in a twodimensial way. Since it has it’s own lane to travel. The people who use the bus live in 3d. Only if they want to go in these buses they’ll have to switch to 2d. There are people who use this fact to create a possibility to make money. This people take the space in the bus and fill the vacuum of impulses that is present in this public transport. And smart as people are. They created a ton of ways to do so. Some sing or play an instrument. Others sell: bracelets, chocolate or sweets. Others use their voice to make a speech. These people, who use the vacuum. They have adapted their way of working to the time between the stops of the bus. They have formed a symbiotic relationship with the bus. They have maximized their efficiency. Making a very conscious choice about the ‘chapters’ of their ‘act’.
The busses are like red blood cells who flow trough the veins of the city. In the film I focus intensely on one of the blood cells to see the world within.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransMilenio
Video, 05:46
Trans el publico, 2022