Panama Sneak Preview! Beauty of the Fight Documentary

A high end fashion and advertising photographer visits a poor Panama neighborhood and comes back for four years to shoot photos and a documentary film. John Urbano has 200 films for Abercrombie and Fitch in his resume as well as work for American Eagle, XOXO, David Meister, Jolt, and Vince Clothing. So how does a photographer who can name his price and pick his shoots end up under police escort shooting a documentary in El Chorillo and Barraza on his own dime?I spoke with John Urbano who will be in Panama for the premier of his documentary on January 18 as well as a follow up showing for Panama's elite on the 19th at the Anita Villalaz Theater in Casco Viejo. There is, however, what amounts to a sneak preview at the new Pangea Restaurant in El Cangrejo on Sunday evening, January 17.

“I was in Panama to shoot the Huntington High School Surf team when a friend took me to see this extremely poor neighborhood,” says Mr. Urbano. That was more than four years ago. Urbano explained that he was intrigued by the story of the neighborhood nearly destroyed in the American invasion of 1989, rebuilt, already in decay, and being demolished to make room for high rises. He returned on his vacations and free time to take photographs.

Urbano came and went over nine months, taking pictures of life in El Chorillo and Barraza. “I went around with a police escort,” Urbano says. “My Spanish is not that good but when we sat down for lunch my escorts kept translating for me these fascinating stories about the people whose photos I had just taken. In the end I decided that filming the people of El Chorillo and Barraza was a better way to tell their story.”

Between fashion and advertising shoots John Urbano filmed his documentary and published a book of photos entitled “The Beauty of the Fight.” “I tried to put as much effort, attention, and love into filming and photographing the people of El Chorillo and Barraza that I do with famous models on a fashion shoot,” Urbano says. “I have never met any people before like the people [in these barrios] and I have been to twenty countries with my work. These people have such difficult lives and such joy at the same time.” Thus Urbano chose his book and documentary title, “The Beauty of the Fight.”

Urbano has paid all expenses out of his own pocket and sends all proceeds from book sales to help the kids in these barrios. “The school is where you go when the bullets are flying. So we’re going to do school supplies and food baskets,” he says. “It won’t be an enormous amount of money but everything helps.”

 A surprise for me was an audio interview of an old resident of El Chorillo. At least his headquarters was there before operation Just Cause Bombed it in 1989. The old resident who reminisces on tape about a neighborhood he has not seen in 20 years is Manuel Noriega.

Urbano’s 69 minute documentary has been shown in 25 film festivals in 7 countries, winning several prizes. “The Beauty of the Fight” will premiere in Panama on January 18th at Diablo Rosso gallery in Casco Viejo, by invitation. Public showings will be at Teatro Anita Villalaz, Las Bóvedas, Plaza de Francia, Casco Viejo, Wednesday, Jan 20, 211-4020 / 211-4017.

Sneak Preview

A special sneak preview has been arranged at the Pangea Restaurant in El Cangrejo. The event will cost $25 a piece to cover three hours of open bar and tapas from 6 pm to 9 pm on Sunday, January 17. The event will start at 6 pm with the hour long documentary to show at 7 pm. Mr. Urbano will be present and will sign his book after the documentary. All proceeds from book sales will go to support the children of El Chorillo and Barraza.

Info, Reservations, Directions: Call Pangea Restaurant in El Cangrejo, 392-7359.

A trailer of “The Beauty of the Fight” is available at www.beautyofthefight.com