Los Hongos
Spanish with English subtitles | Rated 14A
Best friends Ras and Calvin are street artists with limited resources but big ambitions to alter their local surroundings for the better. The two traverse Cali on bike and skateboard, scouting for surfaces to decorate with whatever paint they can scavenge. Inspired by news of the Arab Spring uprisings, they dream of collaborating on a vast mural (with graffiti artist Mario Wize) that will express solidarity with Egypt's student demonstrators. As Ras and Calvin explore Cali's streets and leave their mark on its underpasses and alleyways, Ruiz Navia's film bears witness to a new generation gradually finding its place in a rapidly changing world.
“A sweet-natured look at young adults in search of a good time and a higher purpose... Los Hongos has a big heart and a punk rock spirit.” Diana Sanchez, TIFF
Por la noche, después del trabajo, Ras pinta grafitis en distintos muros de su barrio, al oriente de Cali.; durante el día es obrero de construcción para traer dinero a su madre, una dulce mulata que emigró a la ciudad proveniente de la selva del pacífico. Sin un peso en su bolsillo, Ras atraviesa la ciudad en busca de Calvin, otro joven grafitero que vive días difíciles tras el divorcio de sus padres. Los chicos irán sin rumbo fijo por la ciudad, como quien quiere perderse y no regresar.
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Oscar Ruiz Navia (b. 1982, Cali, Colombia) directed Crab Trap (El vuelco del cangrejo), which won the FIPRESCI Award at Berlin and was selected in more than 70 festivals around the world, including VLAFF in 2010. Los Hongos premiered at the Locarno Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Prize.
Credits:
Director: Oscar Ruiz Navia
Writers: Oscar Ruiz Navia, César Augusto Acevedo
Producers: Diana Bustamante, Gerylee Polanco Uribe, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Guillaume De Seille, Nicolás Avruj, Titus Kreyenberg
Cinematographer: Sofia Oggioni Hatty
Editor: Felipe Guerrero
Cast: Jovan Alexis Marquinez Angulo, Calvin Buenaventura Tascón, Atála Estrada, Gustavo Ruiz Montoya, María Elvira Solís