Those who saw the recent screening of Beauty of the Fight, the award winning documentary by John Urbano, or viewed  his book with the same title, will be looking forward to Panama’s first Urban Photography Festival in mid-March.
Urbano’s film and photographic masterpiece dealt with life in Chorillo and the struggle for survival of those who remembered it as a thriving community.
The upcoming festival, directed by Gerado Carmago has a broader brush  and will contain some 200 photographs submitted by professionals and amateurs dealing with the themes of urban culture, social criticism, and the example of a society that battles with a stark gap between wealth and poverty.
There will be awards for the best entries by amateurs and pros.
How many of the people living in the concrete and glass towers across the bay from the poverty and bloodshed, of Chorillo or live in the sanitized refurbished millionaire homes in Casco Viejo , cheek by jowl with overcrowded slum dwellings, will appreciate, understand, or identify with the themes is debatable, but it is an event designed to open eyes, and may be be one small step towards reducing the gap. 

The Festival will run from March 11-14 in Arco Chato in Casco (Viejo) Antiguo from 6-10 p.m. Admittance is free.
 How many of those elected to represent "the people" will be there?