The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt (2003)

On May 26, 2002, we watched the Colombian presidential elections from Bogotà's regal Plaza de Bolivar. We had come to Colombia to document the campaign of controversial presidential ... See full summary »

Directors:

Victoria Bruce, Karin Hayes

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Storyline

On May 26, 2002, we watched the Colombian presidential elections from Bogotà's regal Plaza de Bolivar. We had come to Colombia to document the campaign of controversial presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt. But on Election Day, Ingrid never arrived. Instead, the candidate appeared in the Plaza as a cardboard torso-carried in the arms of her husband, Juan Carlos Lecompte. As Juan Carlos and Ingrid's mother, Yolanda Pulecio, pleaded with the Colombian people for solidarity, Ingrid spent Election Day deep in the Colombian jungle-a hostage of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and one of the thousands of victims of Colombia's 40 year-old civil war. In THE KIDNAPPING OF INGRID BETANCOURT, Ingrid Betancourt tells her own life story including how, since the beginning of her congressional election in 1994, she risked her life by denouncing Colombian politicians who have been linked to drug cartels. The film continues after the day she is kidnapped on February 23, 2002, ...

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Plot Keywords:

election | colombia | campaign | politician | kidnapping | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

February 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt

Filming Locations:

Colombia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Urcunina Films,NL3 Audio

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Won "Best Documentary" at El Festivalito International Digital Film Festival 2004, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Island of La Palma, Canary Islands.

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Soundtracks

Air on a G string
from Orchestral Suite no. 3
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Barbara K. Bruce, Lauren Chipman, Christine Choi and Jessica Pierce

User Reviews

Worthy though a bit dull

Whilst this look at Colombian presidential candidate and FARC kidnap victim Ingrid Betancourt gives the viewer a good look at a presidential campaign eclipsed by a crime, it tends to put its subject on a pedestal, leaving its audience with far too many unanswered questions. Colombia's 40 year old civil war is mentioned in passing, and there are some brief attempts to put FARC in context, but too much of the film is spent with Ms. Betancourt's family and friends, who can do little more than express their understandable grief. It would have been far more interesting to focus on the political games going on in Colombia, viewed through the prism of the kidnappings. The film also leaves unspoken the clearly privileged background of Ingrid: surely a factor of some importance in this poverty ridden nation's troubles. Overall, this is a fairly interesting film about a fairly interesting person, but it falls well short of greatness.