Colombia is taking part in mutilple sections of the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28): Un varón (A male) by Fabián Hernández in the Directors' Fortnight; La jauría (The Pack) by Andrés Ramírez Pulido in the 61st edition of Critics' Week; Donde comienza el río (Where the River starts) by Juan Andrés Arango in the Cinéfondation's Atelier; and the co-productions Las bravas (The Braves), Regreso al mar de mis muertos (Back to Sea of my Deceased), and Nuestra Memoria (Our Memory) in the industry section. Proimágenes Colombia is coming back with a stand at the Marché du Film to accompany the national delegation. At press time, La Jauría had received the Grand Prize and the SACD Award.
Colombian participation at Cannes begins with Un varón, debut feature by Fabián Hernández, produced by Manuel Ruíz and Medio de Contención Producciones, which will participate in the Directors' Fortnight. The film tells the story of Carlos, a 16-year-old immersed in a violent environment marked by machismo, the laws to become a man, and the deadlock at school. In the street, with his fellows determined to follow the neighborhood laws, Carlos will learn the codes to behave like a man. For this group of little men, there is only one way to live: there is no room for weakness: they must "make themselves respected," talk tough, and impose themselves in the violent universe around them. On the night of December 24th, Carlos will fight for his life and his freedom.
In turn, the 61st Critics' Week presents La jauría, by Andrés Ramírez Pulido, produced by Valiente Gracia (Colombia) and Alta Rocca Films (France). In it, Eliú, a young peasant, is incarcerated in an experimental center for youth in the middle of the rainforest for a crime he committed with his friend El Mono. Every day, the teenagers perform strenuous manual labor and intense group therapy. One day, El Mono is transferred to the same center bringing with him a past that Eliú is trying to leave behind. The film has already received the Grand Prize and the SACD Award this week.
This year's Atelier, Cinéfondation's workshop to support new generations of filmmakers worldwide, is taking place May 21 to 28. One of the 15 projects to be part of the workshop —selected on their quality, previous work, and funding progress— is Donde comienza el río. The feature film, directed by Juan Andrés Arango and produced by Paola Pérez Nieto, tells the story of young Embera Yajaira (19), her daughter María (5), and Jhon (18), a white man who is part of one of the most feared gangs in downtown Bogotá. Together they take a long journey by land and water from the Colombian capital to the remote Andágueda River in the jungles of the Colombian Pacific. While Yajaira is traveling in the hope of going back to the place where she grew up to stop fighting the demons that haunt her dreams, Jhon is fleeing his terrifying reality in the city. During the journey, they must confront their realities. Only the jungle's immense wisdom will decide if they should continue together searching for the place they carry inside or if they should part ways.
The Marché du Film, the section founded in 1959 as the business counterpart of the Cannes Film Festival and one of the largest film markets in the world, will include Las bravas, directed by Diana Ojeda and produced by Mariana Vega (Cine Latina). The film is one of the six projects selected by CANNES DOCS 2022 as Spotlighted projects to find investors. Las bravas are a group of young female soccer fans in Colombia, who despite having been part of a gang for ten years, are not allowed to have an official group nor wave their own flag in the stadiums where they cheer. During this journey of female union, these women face the cost of their struggle. The Colombian project arrives in this section as part of the ChileConecta selection where it earned its place last year.
In the same section is Our Memory by Matías Rojas, where the documentary story of an elderly couple —who survived decades of slavery inside a powerful enclave in southern Chile and now live isolated in Patagonia— intertwines with the fictional journey of a former agent of the dictatorship in search of redemption. It is a co-production of Tomás Gerlach of A Simple Vista (Chile), Clara Larraín of Clara Films (Chile), and Francoise Nieto of Centauro Company (Colombia). The project is part of the PÖFF - Tallinn Black Nights selection.
In Regreso al mar de mis muertos, at the risk of losing her memory and fearing for the fate of her grandson, Ismelda decides to embark on a journey through the Guajira desert with Cabo de la Vela as its final destination. Ismelda will travel along with Chico, her grandson, a child entirely unaware of his roots. It will be a journey full of humor, coincidences, misunderstandings, hopes, and great discoveries. The journey will give them the chance to regain their memories, traditions, and values and strengthen their bond.
This Colombian-Mexican co-production is directed by Esteban García Garzón and produced by Ivette Liang (Galaxia 311) and Marco Antonio Salgado (Cinema 226) and is part of the tenth edition of Goes to Cannes. This is an initiative organized jointly with five international festivals that, from May 20 to 23, present a selection of feature films in post-production to sales agents, distributors, and programmers. The film is part of the SANFIC Industria selection.
Finally, Proimágenes Colombia accompanies the Colombian delegation participating in the festival with stand No. 132 in the Village International, the space that brings together more than 80 countries in around 60 halls.
