La Toma

This documentary captures the inconceivable story of the siege of Colombia’s Palace of Justice by M-19 guerilla movement in 1985.

In an effort to contribute to honor the memory of the disappeared in the Palace of Justice, ICTJ produced the documentary “La Toma” (The Siege) in 2011. With unedited footage and meticulously reconstructed radio and television archival material, the film takes the spectator through the 27 hours of the occupation and retaking of the Palace of Justice. It then presents the nerve-racking progress of the trial against Colonel Plazas Vega for the forced disappearance of 12 people, mostly cafeteria workers at the palace. The story of the trial is told from different points of view, ranging from that of the colonel himself to the relatives of the disappeared.