'Three Nights and a Goat,' by Alumni Screening at the Panorama Colombia Film Festival in Germany

Tres Noches Y Una Cabra (Three Nights and a Goat), directed by alumnus Nicolás Becerra '18, written by alumnus Ben Gottlieb '19 and produced by alumna Jennifer Sciarra '18, was selected to screen at the Panorama Colombia Film Festival in Germany, which has been postponed currently due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Three Nights and a Goat, the arrival of a charismatic goat detonates the historical differences between two neighboring families. The film uses dark humor to talk about Colombian political history, while also giving it a sense of universality.

Three Nights and a Goat won the Santa Lucia for Best Directing at Bogoshorts 2019, one of the largest Latin American short film festivals and an Oscar's qualifier festival. Bercerra said that at the festival, “They highlighted the unique voice in the film, the subtle performances of the actors and the way the camera highlighted the emotions and feelings of the characters.”

They also highlighted the use of music. The film was a part of the ASCAP - COLUMBIA film scoring workshop. Bercerra says of the experience, “The ASCAP - COLUMBIA award and this really brought a whole new dimension and depth to the story. Also it was incredible to have the score written by Alexander Rodriguez, now a teacher at NYU film department, and have his music performed by musicians of the New York philharmonic. It was an incredible experience. A dream come true.”

The film was also in Hollyshorts 2019 Festival and an official selection of the Santa Fe de Antioquia film fest. “Over all, I must say that this project was an incredible learning experience. Since the conception of the idea with Ben Gottlieb, the writer, and Jenny Sciara, the producer, we had a great creative collaboration that I would love to repeat for upcoming projects. Also it was a honor to work under the mentorship of professor, Michael Hausman. He accompanied us from the beginning and was a crucial part of the creative process. The guidance of Mr. Hausman, Betty Gordon and Eric Mendelsohn were a big part of the success of the film,” Becerra said.

Thanks in part to the success of the film, Becerra directed his first tv series for Colombian television. He is now in pre-production for his first feature Mentiras De Mi Padre (Lies of My Father). It was written under the mentorship of Andy Bienen while he was at Columbia. For this feature he plans to continue the creative collaboration with Marc Patterson, who was the DP in Three Nights and a Goat.