“They used us”, with that message actress Conny Camelo started, on her social networks, a video in which she denounces several irregularities around the 17th edition of the Ibero-American Theater Festival of Bogotá -FITB- and which, among other things, was a success in terms of box office and reception in the works presented throughout the city.
In that recording, the renowned artist indicated that she had problems accessing several works of the festival, even though she had an all-access pass, since she had made an exchange with the organizers in which they gave her a kind of subscription in exchange for her to influence her followers so that they could attend the works. This, after the recovery that the event had, as he also recounted his first steps through FITB.
“All my life, since my teenage years, ever since I could, I went to the Ibero-American Theater Festival, I was trained at the Festival, with thousands and a workshop from all the companies in the world. Well, it turns out that all my life I have bought the season ticket; I always spent my money on it,” said Camelo, adding that she later participated in the event as an actress and was present in the financial crisis that occurred in editions prior to 2022.
However, with the economic recovery that this artistic symposium has had, the actress said that she was contacted by the organization for a special request: “They wrote to me for the first time (...) and they told me 'Conny, you who are an influencer of the theater, you who are going to the theater, we want to give you this -passport- all access so that you can change it for a compost and choose your works.”
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He then stated that he “happily” accepted that proposal and, a week earlier, he made the process to redeem the season tickets, including the choice of works and schedules. The first few days there was not so much reception, but after the third day she began to see the room where she attended full, and it was at that moment that her problems with the logistics of the Festival began.
“-They said to me- 'No, Conny, there are no ballots for you', and I 'But why if I had asked for them a week ago? 'and they told me that everything was full and that there was no ticket office. The next day it was the same thing” and he said that in the last days of tablas they did not even answer his phone to be right for the ballots to which he was entitled, so he was surprised with the organization of the Festival because of that negligence.
“I find it super ugly on the part of the Festival that they use us that way; that we did our job and somehow our tacit exchange of inviting people and that they were excited about going to the theater (...) I ask the festival to respect the theater actors, the artists, because this festival was ours, the artists (...) Respect and return to ethics,” said the Bogotana.
The FITB response
Businessman Ricardo Leyva, one of those in charge of 'reviving' the Theatre Festival, explained in dialogue with El Tiempo that there were indeed problems in the organization despite the idea of being novel in dealing with artistic influencers.
“We invented something new this year for the people who helped us to promote the festival, people from the theater, people of influence: we created an all access so they could access the plays they were programming,” said Leyva, adding that in the last days of the event they had logistical problems. He even claimed that he had spoken to Conny himself and extended his apologies.
In response, the 45-year-old artist mentioned the gesture of the businessman: “They apologized for this logistics and system and human issue. They are new people who are also learning and who want the festival to live and grow. All the good vibes”, he concluded.
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