Motorrodillo

Alba Jaramillo’s compelling documentary Motorrodillo is named for a homespun mode of transport that emerged from the communities of northern Colombia when the railway system abandoned the area. Something like an amalgamation of a handcar and a passenger carriage, powered by an affixed motorbike, the motorrodillo uses the deserted tracks of the railroad to ferry passengers and goods from village to village, via the dense and lush forests. Focusing primarily on a single driver, Dolly, this affecting film follows her travels through the local landscape, also taking note of the way she must – as the sole female driver – navigate her professional environment, not least when local officials begin proceedings to legally recognise this previously off-the-books and grass-roots system.

The opening shots of Motorrodillo recall the visuals of the ‘phantom ride’ attractions that were prevalent in early cinema, a camera mounted on the front of a train would transmit the experience of rushing along the tracks. It’s a thrilling motif that recurs throughout the film, placing the audience in the position of a passenger hurtling through the jungle. It may seem a surprising reference point given the now antique nature of the ‘phantom ride.’ However, there is something strangely fitting about the use of this familiar composition to convey the essence of these abandoned ferroequine pathways now recolonised by communities. The fairground attraction element is at its most pointed when the vehicle is forced to crawl along a highly unstable section of track, precariously hovering above a body of water.

Rickety bridges are not the only hazards that Dolly and her cart face – cows wend their way across the line, corroding tracks split, or she can find herself face-to-face with another motorrodillo heading in the opposite direction. The answer to this impasse is to clamber out and lift one of the contraptions off the rails and out of the way – similar to when they reach the end of the line and manually pivot back in the other direction. A close-up early on shows Dolly’s weathered hands as she pushes her carriage along the tracks. The shot lasts only a couple of seconds, but it deftly grounds the audience in the lived physical reality of her life and labour. “We have to remember we’re a public service,” states another driver at a meeting. We’re mindful of this all the way through Motorrodillo, an ode to collective action and to the efforts of people like Dolly.

Director: Alba Jaramillo
Producers: Qutaiba Barhamji, Marie-Odile Gazin, Alba Jaramillo
Editing: Francine Lemaitre
Cinematography: David Horacio Montoya
Sound: Andres Acevedo, Manuel Vidal
Venue: DOK Leipzig (International Competition Short Film)
In Spanish
30 minutes