Songs that Flood the River

Along the riverbank in the small community of Bellavista, a young Oneida learned to sing alabados, traditional funeral chants sung by Afro-Colombians on the Pacific coast to bid farewell to the dead as they return to the realm of souls. When she was eight years old, a snake devoured her leg, leaving her for dead in the jungle—a looming metaphor for what was to come. Oneida and her community found themselves in the midst of terror as war escalated in Colombia and their town became the site of one of Colombia's deadliest confrontations, the Boyajá Massacre. As an adult, Oneida's alabados are now sung for the millions of souls who have suffered as a result of this conflict. Mesmerizing and hypnotic director Germán Arango, together with Oneida, weave a melodious tale marking the scars of her misfortune and that of Colombia's, to realize a healed future. Heather Haynes

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