Embodied experience of the film spectator: emotional response to the documentary Las Mujeres de las FARC

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines how the documentary Las Mujeres de las FARC raises awareness and strengthens a culture of peace and reconciliation among university students in the Colombian Caribbean. The results show, on the one hand, the documentary’s potential to generate a significant degree of narrative sympathy insofar as it includes, firstly, the voices of guerrilla women traditionally excluded from the discourses of conflict, and secondly, by generating emotional and sympathetic reactions among participants who have experienced the armed conflict up close. On the other hand, a group of participants clearly distanced themselves from the documentary by considering that it is a romanticised discourse of the lives of guerrilla women and avoids to address the human rights violations inflicted upon members of the group and the civilian population at large. This project was framed within a mixed method research design and addressed two dimensions: the emotional response of spectators from a sympathy and narrative understanding perspective, and the projection and identification of the spectators mediated via empathy with the characters portrayed. Finally, the pedagogical potential of the documentary in the promotion of a culture of peace and reconciliation in Colombia is discussed.