POV is a must-watch for all that haven’t seen it. Credit to PBS.
Los Angeles, California (June 19, 2025)- On Monday, July 7, 2025, PBS’s POV will premiere Igualada: Refusing to Know Your Place, a powerful and intimate documentary chronicling the extraordinary political and personal journey of Francia Márquez, Colombia’s first Black Vice President. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Juan Mejía Botero (Death by a Thousand Cuts), this deeply resonant film is the product of over 15 years of filming and offers a rare, behind-the-scenes portrait of a grassroots leader who defied every expectation—and reshaped a nation in the process.
The documentary captures Márquez’s evolution from a young environmental activist in La Toma, a rural Afro-Colombian town, into a central figure in Colombia’s progressive political movement. Her story begins with community organizing to defend ancestral land rights and culminates in a historic presidential campaign alongside Gustavo Petro. With intimate footage and cinéma vérité storytelling, Igualada places viewers alongside Márquez as she confronts systemic racism, classism, and gender inequality while remaining unapologetically rooted in the identity and culture of her community.
The film’s title is a direct reference to a slur often used in Latin America—igualada—a word meant to insult those who “don’t know their place.” Márquez reclaims the term as a banner of defiance and pride. “They don’t make films about women like me or communities like mine,” she told director Mejía Botero in 2020, when she announced her presidential ambitions. That moment of audacity and truth became the launching point for a project that would span years and cross borders, ultimately culminating in one of the most inspiring political ascents in Latin American history.
Having made its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Igualada has already received critical acclaim and a string of honors. It won the Jury Award at the Bergen International Film Festival and Cine Las Americas, the Audience Award at the Films for Future Festival in Zürich, and Best Systemic Change Documentary at the 2025 SIMA Awards. The film was also named to the 2025 IDA Documentary Awards shortlist and selected for major festivals including HotDocs, DOC NYC, and the Berlin Human Rights Film Festival.
Executive produced by Felipe Estefan, Juan Pablo Ruiz, Paola Mendoza, Marco Williams, and POV’s Erika Dilday and Chris White, the film is a co-production of Human Pictures and No Ficción. It features original music by Richard Córdoba and a moving theme song by Colombian artist La Muchacha, further grounding the film in its cultural and political roots. The editing by Andrea Chignoli and cinematography by Gómez enhance its raw emotional power.
“Igualada is a film about hope—and belief in democracy,” said Mejía Botero. “If Francia’s unimaginable campaign—and her becoming Colombia’s first Black Vice President—was possible in a country like ours, then it’s possible almost anywhere. We have to believe that. We have to allow ourselves to dream again. And we can’t get tired of fighting.”
Francia Márquez’s campaign was never meant to be conventional. It began with a simple goal: to make visible the struggles of the invisible. But it quickly grew into a national movement. Her motto, rooted in African philosophy, declared: “I am because we are.” That spirit permeates the film—an urgent reminder that grassroots activism, community resilience, and moral clarity still have the power to change the world.
The national broadcast premiere of Igualada: Refusing to Know Your Place airs Monday, July 7 at 10 PM on PBS (check local listings), and will be available to stream for free at pbs.org and on the PBS app through October 5, 2025.
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