ABSTRACT
Heterotopias, according to Michel Foucault, are real places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society, which are something like counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted utopia in which the real sites are simultaneously represented, contested and inverted. Foucault's concept of heterotopia may be combined with Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad to address the emergence of such spaces in Colombian documentaries filmed in rural areas. This chapter discusses three films that use the presence of heterotopias as spatial metaphors for the armed conflict. The first is Those Waiting in the Dark, a documentary that pioneered the poetic representation of the countryside. The second is Meanders, a travelogue that challenged the stereotypes of the space of war by showing a wide variety of spaces of resistance. Finally, the third is The Towrope, a sophisticated and poetic fiction film based on true stories, that explores the possibility of non-belonging in the life of several displaced persons.
