BIRDS OF PASSAGE
The mythic birth and tragic rise of the Colombian drug trade is shown as never before in this stunning epic that opened Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Set in the land of the Wayuu, indigenous people of northern Colombia’s lush desert region who are customarily wary of outsiders, the film tracks over a decade of warring clans as they grow into full-blown drug mobs. It’s 1968 and Raphayet, a poor farmer, cannot afford the dowry required to wed the daughter of a prominent Wayuu family steeped in ritual. After stumbling upon Americans from the peace corps who are looking for marijuana, he impulsively jumps at the opportunity to make money. What begins as a simple scheme to be worthy of his wife’s family turns swiftly into a multi-year crime saga of grand proportions drawing in multiple Wayuu families and igniting a blaze of grudges, feuds, and power-plays. Filmmakers Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego, the team behind the oscar-nominated visionary film EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT, return with this masterful blend of color and sound, infusing their tragic legend with gorgeous imagery and expert storytelling. Wisely keeping the focus on the Wayuu family and the natural conflict of running a criminal empire within the the bounds of cultural tradition, Guerro and Gallego raise the gangster film to the level of pure art.
CAST: Natalia Reyes, José Acosta, Carmiña Martínez
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