Colombian director Federico Atehortúa Arteaga won the Proxima Special Jury Prize at the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic for his second feature, Forensics / Forenses, which had its international premiere at the festival. The award includes a $10,000 cash prize.
Forensics had its world premiere earlier this year at the Cartagena Film Festival (FICCI) and marks Atehortúa's second feature film, following his acclaimed 2019 debut Mute Fire / Pirotecnia.
The film explores the intertwined stories of Colombia’s disappeared, connecting personal loss and national identity through memory, recovery, and ongoing search efforts. It weaves together three narratives: the murder of a transgender woman outside Katalina Ángel’s home and her decision to care for the unnamed body in the absence of state intervention; the disappearance of the filmmaker’s uncle, Jorge Arteaga, and the decades of fabricated stories that concealed the family’s truth; and the work of forensic anthropologist Karen Quintero, whose testimony underscores the country’s present-day search for the missing.
Blending archival footage, animation, dreams, maps, and hybrid formats in an essayistic style, Forensics reflects on how the history of Colombia is also the history of its disappeared.
The 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place July 3–11, 2025.
