Por Panamá la vida

Por Panamá la vida is a short personal documentary about the years living under the dictatorship of general Noriega culminating with the United States invasion in December 1989. De Obaldia made the documentary in 2019 for the exhibition An invasion in 4 times at the Museum of Contemporary Art in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the US invasion of Panama. It was shown in one of the exhibition halls of the Museum with her series ManiObras paintings and drawings 1988-1989

The documentary was made by combining photographs and videos that De Obaldia was taking during the years 1987 through 1990 to record the ongoing political events, and her family daily life which was deeply affected by the situation during that time. After a particularly intense personal confrontation with the military the young artist put a stop to her street activity and started making drawings and paintings in her studio. A narration based from texts found in her private diaries pieces together the historical facts and her personal view with the art that she produced at the time.

In 2020 Por Panamá la vida won the prize of best Panamanian documentary in the 12th edition of the Hayah International Short Film Festival.

It was selected for the 58th Carnegie International Is it morning for you yet? in 2022