Andres Caicedo, a man ahead of his time



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Caicedo is a great inspiration to us all, because he managed to create whole new worlds with his plays and scripts.

Andres Caicedo (Cali, Colombia) was a writer during the 1960s. He wrote short stories and novels but specialized in writing plays and movie scripts. Although he never developed any of his films himself, many adaptations of his scripts were made after his death in 1977. In his scripts, finding his own views on life is not rare. In fact, I believe these lessons can have a valuable application in real life.

He has been an inspiration to me, not only for his achievements, but also for his way of living life in order to make art. He showed me there is value in detail, and how important it is in order for the characters to interact in a world not unlike ours, giving them life of their own. This is the element that allows the viewer to feel as if he was experiencing the event rather than watching it from his seat. For me his works were like snowfllakes, delicate, precise and not two alike.

Breaking standards is just another lesson I learned from him. For example, the magazine, for which he worked for, broke every existing standard conditioning cinematic journalism. Andres Caicedo taught me to think differently and to set new barriers for others to break. This way,m people all over the world would help each other to improve their own creations. There is an infinite number of possibilities and you have to discover as many as you can.

He also taught me that life is no more than a race against time in which we have to do our b est in order to leave a mark in history. Meaning, that it doesnīt matter how many years you live just as long as you do what you love and try to make it better everyday for yourself and others around you to enjoy. You might not be here tomorrow, so you have to try harder each day to achieve your goals. Andres Caicedo lived and died by this notion striving to be the best in his job.

These were just some of the things I learned from this incredible visionary who believed in a world where art played an irreplaceable role in every man, woman and child; and in which his country had achieved the one thing he coulnīt live to see. An era of peace and cultural development which would place it amongst the greatest countries of the world.


@copyright Michelle Pantin 2015