VISION VALLENATA (Feature Documentary)

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‘Where the road ends, the song begins.’ Two blind musicians and their sighted friend travel across Colombia guided by sound. From Bogotá to the Caribbean, they discover a country seen through music. Visión Vallenata is a sensory road movie where the landscape becomes song —a journey of friendship, courage, and the living rhythm of Colombia’s heart. 

Visión Vallenata is a documentary road movie that follows three friends and musicians —Yiyo, Carlos, and Diego— as they travel through Colombia guided only by music.
Yiyo and Carlos are blind, but they see with their souls: the accordion and the guacharaca become their eyes. Diego, who can see, plays the caja and becomes the group’s vision. They have no money, but they share one dream: to compose a song and submit it to the country’s oldest Vallenato Festival.

The film opens with a simple, poetic image: the three lying on a field, dreaming out loud. One wants to reach the Pacific, another wants to play at the festival, another wants to discover rhythms he has never heard. Their laughter becomes music, and music becomes movement. With only their instruments and a small bag, they stand by the road and hitchhike. The journey begins.

From Bogotá to Buenaventura and Quibdó, then on to Necoclí, Montes de María, and Valledupar. They play in plazas, rivers, mountains, and towns forgotten by the State. Each stop reveals a rhythm, a story, a community. They sleep under borrowed roofs, bathe in rivers, learn music they never imagined.

For them, music is not just art —it is refuge, memory, and identity.
Visión Vallenata is a sensory journey where the landscape becomes song and the song becomes landscape; where the screen sometimes turns black so the audience can listen as they do.
A film about friendship, belonging, and the Colombia that still resists through music.

Original Title: Visión Vallenata
International Title: Vallenato Vision
Estimated Duration: 75 minutes
Format: Creative Documentary – Sensory Road Movie
Country: Colombia-Spain - Ireland
Language: Spanish
Project Status: In Development

Audio:5.1 _Designed to be accessible for visually impaired audiences

Resolution: 4K  

Creative / Observational Documentary

Sensory Road Movie 

Musical & Social
Accessible to visually impaired audiences through a narrative sound design

-Luis “Yiyo”  – Accordionist, blind

-Carlos Mario  'Chori' – Guacharaca player, blind

-Diego Tena – Percussionist (caja), the only sighted member of the group

A cinematic language alternating between vision and listening:

When Diego opens his eyes: the visible world —roads, bodies, landscapes.
When he closes them: the screen fades to black and a sound-only journey begins, allowing the audience to “see” as Carlos and Yiyo do. A poetic and immersive montage where sound is narrative, memory, and geography.

Vallenato Vision is a feature documentary developed with a lean and realistic production plan. The budget prioritizes travel, sound, and a small, flexible crew capable of filming in rural and remote areas across Colombia.

Main cost areas:

Research & Development: Field research, story development, access to communities, scouting and preliminary recordings.
 

Production: Travel across multiple regions (Bogotá, Buenaventura, Quibdó, Necoclí, Montes de María, Valledupar), transportation, local guides, accommodation, meals, permits, and logistics in rural territories.
 

Crew: Director, cinematographer, sound recordist, field production , and security when required.
 

Equipment: Cinematographic camera, lenses, portable sound recording kit, backup storage and batteries for travel in remote areas.
 

Post–Production: Editing, color grading, sound design, surround/immersive sound mix, and original music arrangement.
 

Accessibility: Audio description and accessible sound mix for visually impaired audiences.
 

Distribution & Festivals: Deliverables, festival submissions, marketing materials and promotional assets.

Vallenato Vision is structured as a cost-efficient Latin American production with a high artistic and social return — a perfect match for co-production with Northern European partners who invest in diversity, accessibility and innovative documentary storytelling.

€350,000 – €400,000

This budget reflects a lean production in Colombia and a high-quality European post-production and finishing strategy, allowing European partners to hold meaningful creative and financial participation.

1. High sound-driven film → ideal for European sound labs & post studios
The film’s identity is sonic: immersive design, accessible mixes, 360º spatial audio.
Northern Europe has world-class sound post-production houses that could take leading roles.

2. Accessibility & inclusion
Yiyo and Carlos are blind musicians; the film integrates an accessible sound narrative.
This qualifies for grants and broadcasters dedicated to disability-inclusive projects in:

• Ireland (Arts & Disability Ireland / Screen Ireland initiatives)
• UK (BFI Disability & Inclusion Funds, Channel 4, BBC Three)
• Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark (public broadcasters + accessibility funds) 

3. Cultural diversity & minority voices
European funds support films that highlight:

• underrepresented communities 
• post-conflict reconciliation
• cultural preservation
• indigenous and rural voices
  This documentary checks ALL those boxes.

What drives me to direct Vallenato Vision is a vital need: to show another Colombia. A country that has not only survived violence, but has transformed pain into music, culture, and memory. A country that sings where others fall silent, where art becomes resistance and a way to stay alive.

I am an anthropologist, filmmaker, and migrant. For more than eight years I have researched the armed conflict and its impact on rural territories. I have heard painful stories, but I have also found communities that protect life, water, joy, and folklore. They show that other ways of living are possible.

This film is not only the journey of three young musicians; it is also my own journey. A personal and political road into the Colombia that cities rarely see, but that beats in every rhythm and every face. I believe in cinema not as a showcase, but as a bridge — a space of listening, dignity, and transformation. Vallenato Vision will not only observe: it will accompany, sing, and imagine another possible country.

Director: Jorge David Pérez Aldana
Email: jorge.perez.aldana@gmail.com
Current Residence: Cork/Ireland - Bucaramanga/ Colombia - Barcelona/España