Photo by Óscar Pérez
Filmmaker, screenwriter, and editor Camila Loboguerrero—a trailblazing figure in Colombian cinema and the country’s first female fiction-feature director—passed away in the early hours of Saturday, June 21, 2025, at her home in Bogotá, reportedly of natural causes. She was 83.
Born on September 3, 1941, in Bogotá, Loboguerrero began her artistic journey at Universidad de los Andes, where she studied Fine Arts. Her passion for cinema led her to Paris, where she pursued Art History at the Sorbonne and later earned credentials in Cinematography at the University of Vincennes. There, she worked with Peruvian filmmaker Jorge Reyes and, inspired by Latin American cinematic movements, resolved to bring compelling, socially conscious storytelling to Colombia.
In 1971, Loboguerrero returned to Colombia and joined the Division of Educational Radio and Television of the Ministry of National Education, where she directed the short films The Gold of Chocó and Adult Education in Colombia.
She also played a pivotal role in founding Filmando Ltda., one of Colombia’s first independent production companies. Her work there—most notably the short film Llano y contaminación—earned international recognition, including a gold medal at the Bilbao Festival (1973) and third prize at the Cartagena Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1976, she worked as an editor on short films for directors including Manuel Franco, Diego León Giraldo, and Luis Alfredo Sánchez, and directed the documentary short Ala solar.
Despite the absence of a robust national film industry, Loboguerrero directed her debut feature Con su música a otra parte in 1984, financing it through personal loans—a historic milestone as the first fiction feature in Colombia directed by a woman.
Co-produced with her partner, architect Rafael Maldonado, and starring Nelly Moreno, Diego León Hoyos, Judy Henríquez, and Carmenza Gómez, the film tells the story of a young ballad singer, educated in the U.S., who returns to Colombia to pursue her career. Her plans, however, clash with those of her mother, a renowned tropical music singer, making confrontation inevitable. The young woman runs away from home and becomes involved with musicians drawn to revolutionary ideals and street theater.
Loboguerrero went on to direct María Cano (1990), Nochebuena (2008), and produce numerous documentaries, shorts, and medium-length works exploring the country’s social fabric. Her feature María Cano—a portrait of Colombia’s first female political leader—earned critical acclaim and resonated deeply with audiences, particularly women, for its historical and feminist themes.
Beyond her creative achievements, Loboguerrero was a fierce advocate for Colombia’s audiovisual sector. She served as vice-president of the Directores Audiovisuales Sociedad Colombiana (DASC) until her passing. In 2024, she was honored with the Macondo de Honor award in recognition of her transformative contributions to national cinema.
Colombian cultural institutions responded swiftly to her passing. The Ministry of Culture hailed her as a decisive figure in shaping modern Colombian cinema, while Bogotá’s cultural community mourned the loss of what many described as a “clear and persistent voice.”
