LT22 Radio La ColifataCarlos Larrondo (AR)

documentary film, 2007

Buenos Aires, Argentina. From the garden of the Psychiatric clinic J.T. Borda, LT22 Radio La Colifata is going on air. The authors of the program are all patients of the clinic. This radio program gives the silenced ones – the “crazy” ones - an opportunity to speak. The protagonists, the colifatos, reveal how the station listened all over the world works. Through effective therapy for the patients the radio program overcomes walls dividing the mentally ill from the rest of society. The documentary accompanies the colifatos on their trip to Europe where they witness the repercussions to their pioneer project – other psychiatric clinics adopted their idea and started their own radio stations. The journey wraps up on a football stadium back in Buenos Aires where Manu Chao plays a concert in honor of Radio La Colifata and the colifatos.

Larrondo's first feature documentary merges radio and film, relying particularly on the sound material, from radio program archives to music. The soundtrack and music arrangement are unique thanks to the creative work of the world music pioneer, Manu Chao.

Carlos Larrondo (AR)

Carlos Larrondo was born in Mercedes, Argentina, in 1973. He studied audiovisual communication at the University of Buenos Aires, where he made his first fiction and documentary short films. He moved to Barcelona at the end of the nineties where he continued working in the music industry – directing music videos, documentaries and album covers. Amongst his most outstanding works is the video clip The Rumba of Barcelona for Manu Chao and the documentary Radio Nikosia for TVE (Radio Televisión Española). Together with Anton Reixa he restored a documentaryCastelao, biografía de un ilustre gallego (Castelao, biography of an illustrious Galician) by the renowned filmmaker Jorge Prelorán. LT 22 Radio La Colifata is his first feature documentary film which was in the making for 11 years.