A hippopotamus is a semi-aquatic animal native to sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the early 1990s, hippos and other wild animals ran amok in South America, thanks to drug lord Pablo Escobar and the exotic menagerie at his Hacienda Nápoles estate.
After his death, the animals were left to their own devices. Some were sent to zoos, others facing an uncertain future — but not Pepe, he chose to carve his own path. At the center of Nelson Carlos de Los Santos Arias’ Berlin Premiere film, Pepe is titular nickname of the rogue hippo who escaped into the wilderness and left a trail of destruction in his wake.
Pepe meets a tragic end, but not before pondering life’s profoundest questions. Voiced by a chorus of actors including Jhon Narváez, Harmony Ahalwa, Fareed Matjila, and Shifafure Faustinus, the hippo waxes poetic about his own death and the circumstances leading up to it.
After his death, the animals were left to their own devices. Some were sent to zoos, others facing an uncertain future — but not Pepe, he chose to carve his own path. At the center of Nelson Carlos de Los Santos Arias’ Berlin Premiere film, Pepe is titular nickname of the rogue hippo who escaped into the wilderness and left a trail of destruction in his wake.
Pepe meets a tragic end, but not before pondering life’s profoundest questions. Voiced by a chorus of actors including Jhon Narváez, Harmony Ahalwa, Fareed Matjila, and Shifafure Faustinus, the hippo waxes poetic about his own death and the circumstances leading up to it.
- 2/22/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
In “Pepe,” Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias tells the story of a very special hippopotamus. Or rather, he allows the hippopotamus to tell the story himself.
“Pablo Escobar brought three hippos to Colombia back in 1981. He was ‘the pioneer’ among drug lords investing in exotic pets. When he had to abandon his mansion [Naples Estate] and flee, there were so many of them. Lions, elephants,” recounts the Dominican director.
But it was the hippos that managed to adapt to their new environment, taking advantage of South American rivers.
“It’s the first wild herd outside of Africa. Initially, there was this alpha male Pablito and Pepe fought him and he lost. He was the first male who left the herd. To the people who saw him, he seemed like a monster!”
Soon, a hunt was well on its way.
“When I finished [previous film] ‘Cocote,’ I was so tired. I went to Colombia,...
“Pablo Escobar brought three hippos to Colombia back in 1981. He was ‘the pioneer’ among drug lords investing in exotic pets. When he had to abandon his mansion [Naples Estate] and flee, there were so many of them. Lions, elephants,” recounts the Dominican director.
But it was the hippos that managed to adapt to their new environment, taking advantage of South American rivers.
“It’s the first wild herd outside of Africa. Initially, there was this alpha male Pablito and Pepe fought him and he lost. He was the first male who left the herd. To the people who saw him, he seemed like a monster!”
Soon, a hunt was well on its way.
“When I finished [previous film] ‘Cocote,’ I was so tired. I went to Colombia,...
- 2/19/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
- 1/22/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s tempting to think we’ve seen it all when it comes to gangster movies — the Tommy-gunning tough guys, the cosa nostra capos and cutthroats, the tattooed yakuza hard men, the cartel-to-Chinese-triad thug lifers, the coked-out kingpins with their Everest-sized blow piles and ballistic “little friends.” Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s stunning, sumptuous Birds of Passage isn’t out to reinvent the wheel regarding drug-lord narratives, nor is it asking Tony Montana to hold its beer. But what it brings to the party by setting its near-folkloric narco...
- 2/13/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
The Orchard has picked up North American distribution rights to Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s crime thriller “Birds of Passage” out of the Cannes Film Festival, Variety reports. The Spanish-language film debuted in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the festival last week.
Guerra’s last feature, 2015’s “Embrace of the Serpent,” was distributed by Oscilloscope and landed a best foreign language film Oscar nomination for the Colombian director.
“The film was always conceived as a theatrical experience, and there’s really no better way to appreciate it than in the cinema,” said co-directors Gallego and Guerro and producer Katrin Pors in a statement provided to the outlet. “We are very happy that audiences will have the opportunity to see it in the way it was intended.”
Per the film’s official synopsis, “‘Birds of Passage’ charts the origins of the Colombian drug trade, through the epic story of an...
Guerra’s last feature, 2015’s “Embrace of the Serpent,” was distributed by Oscilloscope and landed a best foreign language film Oscar nomination for the Colombian director.
“The film was always conceived as a theatrical experience, and there’s really no better way to appreciate it than in the cinema,” said co-directors Gallego and Guerro and producer Katrin Pors in a statement provided to the outlet. “We are very happy that audiences will have the opportunity to see it in the way it was intended.”
Per the film’s official synopsis, “‘Birds of Passage’ charts the origins of the Colombian drug trade, through the epic story of an...
- 5/13/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Orchard has landed North American distribution rights to “Birds of Passage” out of the Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned.
The Spanish-language film directed Ciro Guerra (“Embrace the Serpent”) and his wife, Cristina Gallego, chronicles a crime family involved in Colombia drug trafficking from the 1960s through the 1980s.
“The film was always conceived as a theatrical experience, and there’s really no better way to appreciate it than in the cinema,” said co-directors Gallego and Guerro and producer Katrin Pors in a statement. “We are very happy that audiences will have the opportunity to see it in the way it was intended, and that we have found a passionate distributor that loves and defends the art of cinema as much as we do.”
The film’s cast includes actors Carmiña Martínez, Jose Acosta, Jhon Narváez, Natalia Reyes, Jose Vicente Cots, Juan Martínez and Greider Meza.
“Birds of Passage...
The Spanish-language film directed Ciro Guerra (“Embrace the Serpent”) and his wife, Cristina Gallego, chronicles a crime family involved in Colombia drug trafficking from the 1960s through the 1980s.
“The film was always conceived as a theatrical experience, and there’s really no better way to appreciate it than in the cinema,” said co-directors Gallego and Guerro and producer Katrin Pors in a statement. “We are very happy that audiences will have the opportunity to see it in the way it was intended, and that we have found a passionate distributor that loves and defends the art of cinema as much as we do.”
The film’s cast includes actors Carmiña Martínez, Jose Acosta, Jhon Narváez, Natalia Reyes, Jose Vicente Cots, Juan Martínez and Greider Meza.
“Birds of Passage...
- 5/13/2018
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety Film + TV
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