When a Colombian woman confronts a genetic legacy of early-onset Alzheimer’s, her family's fate becomes entwined with scientists racing for a cure, before memory itself disappears.
SYNOPSIS
Deep in a lush valley of the Colombian Andes, where the scars of a violent history still linger, thousands of people are quietly forgetting who they are.
After her brother is killed in a conflict that has raged on for generations, Paola watches her mother and other members of her family mysteriously lose their memory by the time they reach middle age. What Paola doesn’t yet know is that this mysterious pattern is part of something much larger. In the region of Antioquia lives the world’s largest known family with a genetic mutation for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
As Paola searches for answers, local researchers Dr. Francisco Lopera and Dr. Lucía Madrigal race against time, and against deep-rooted cultural and systemic barriers, to unlock the potential cure hidden in the DNA of this family, while the world finally begins to take notice.
Providencia is a story told through an ensemble of deeply human lives that converge for a collective story, of not just medical science or individual destiny, but of resilience. Far from a tragedy, the film is a testament to perseverance, and the power of community. Audiences will leave not with despair, but with awe for the scientific journey and a renewed sense of what it means to truly live, as Colombians have done through every kind of adversity for generations.
Director Statement
This poetic narrative at the intersection of medical discovery and cultural history has my whole heart. Colombia and Antioquia are personal for me. I am one of only a few members of my family in the United States; the rest remain in Colombia, where the landscape itself holds memories of conflict, of survival, of forgetting. It’s not lost on me that my own ancestors could have carried this genetic mutation. This story lives in my blood.
I am making a film about the scientific process in my mother’s country, and human nature as it navigates an unpredictable fate. Providencia is a film about memory—how it fades, how it endures, and how its loss reverberates through generations. At its core, this is a story of science, yes, but also of spirit, history, and the quiet resilience of a Colombian family confronting an inherited fate.
Dr. Lopera passed rather suddenly last year, but just before he did, he received the Potamkin Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of Alzheimer's research, for his groundbreaking discoveries alongside his American collaborator, Dr. Kenneth Kosik. Lopera is considered a pioneer.
When I asked Dr. Lopera why it took so long for the globe to take notice of his work, he winked and said, “Because medical breakthroughs don’t happen in the third world!”
But, obviously, they do. Elevating and validating research from the global south is mission critical for Providencia.
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Juliana Schatz
Juliana Schatz is a Colombian-American documentary filmmaker whose work is deeply rooted in the stories, struggles, and resilience of Latin America. With a lens sharpened by heritage and guided by human connection, Juliana crafts films that reveal the lived realities behind headlines where culture, conflict, and memory intersect.
Her directorial debut, Los Comandos, set in El Salvador, was shortlisted for the 2019 Academy Awards and nominated for the International Documentary Association Awards in 2018. Juliana’s storytelling has been supported by ITVS, FRONTLINE, Firelight Media, Type Investigations, The Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Sundance Sandbox Fund, Women in Film, and the Producers Guild of America. She was honored with the Silurians Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism Award for her radio documentary A Desperate Bargain, and has received nominations from the Livingston Awards and the Foreign Press Association in London.
Guillermo Zouain is a producer and director. He directed and cowrote ALGUN LUGAR (MIFF 2015), and produced IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY by Victoria Linares (True/False 2022), OFF THE ROAD by José Permar (Visions Du Reel, Interriligieux Award 2020), AGUJERO NEGRO by Diego Araujo (BAFICI 2018) and DONDE SE QUEDAN LAS COSAS (FICG 2018) by Daniela Silva.
Creative producer, scriptwriter, visual artist, and educator. Her work as a producer has received the support of Ibermedia, DGCine (Dominican Republic), CNCINE (Ecuador), IMCINE (Mexico), and the Tribeca Film Institute, traveling worldwide from BAFICI, Dok Leipzig, and Montréal World Cinema to KolKata IFF, São Paulo, and Zlín.
Tanja Tawadjoh is an executive producer with over ten years of experience in film production. She was the former head of development for an independent production and financing company, Black Bicycle Entertainment. Her work has included producing both scripted and unscripted features, partnering with the likes of A24, Sony Pictures and IFC Films.
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