A few still images from this scene survive, showing a painting titled La Apoteosis, depicting a woman waving the Colombian flag.

[4] In the early 1900s, economic growth in Colombia spurred the construction of movie theatres that played foreign films, such as the Olympia de Bogota (opened on 8 December 1912).

[13] Newspapers deemed it an "immoral movie" and described Galarza and Carvajal's participation as "disgusting" and "criminal glorification",[14] made worse by their having been paid for it.

Francesco Di Domenico cut the most controversial scenes and rereleased the documentary,[3] but the governor of Cundinamarca Department, which at the time included Bogotá, banned the film.

[16] El drama del 15 de octubre was banned by a Colombian court order, and all copies of the film were destroyed.

[17] In 1922, the liberal newspaper Mundo al día characterized El drama del 15 de octubre as a blockbuster, while also describing the image quality of the film as "imperfect and primitive".

[15] Interest in the film was revived in the 1970s and 1980s, as Colombian cinema's depiction of political and social issues was re-examined, and Compañía de Fomento Cinematográfico was created.