How Long Is “Biblioburro”?

Northern Colombia is a land often short on good news. Drugs provide one of the few sources of steady income, but have also given rise to a crime network that has made the territory dangerous to nearly everyone. Political and military instability only add to these troubles, with armed forces and rebel guerrillas waging war with the local drug cartels. And poverty and poor education is a sad fact of life. Into this land of chaos comes Luis Soriano, a man who offers his own simple solution to Colombia's problems -- reading. Soriano regularly packs up dozens of books into boxes, ties them to the backs of his faithful donkeys, and rides into small towns in Northern Colombia to distribute knowledge in a place where learning is both needed and in short supply. Filmmaker Carlos Zipagauta chronicles one man's simple but passionate effort to make a difference in Biblioburro: The Donkey Library, a short documentary which received its American premiere at the 2009 American Film Institute Latin American Film Festival.