Carlos Eduardo Quebrada Vásquez

From the very beginning, Simón Velez’s film instils a sense of dramatic tension: moving from a sudden crescendo and the grainy sounds of nervous electro noise to a bucolic archery scene between two men, and the texture of analogue film.

A cat wandering among the pastures, the sparks that emerge among the red embers of a fire, a man walking under the shadow of high trees in the middle of a forest, a distant fire, the ghostly figure of firemen at night: these are some of the minimal postcards that make up the enormous beauty of the Manantiales mountains, in the outskirts of Córdoba, Argentina.

On 6 March 1906, four men were executed for the attempted murder of Colombian president Rafael Reyes. The event was photographed, and the photos were later used for a fictionalised film on the failed coup. From then on, cinema in this South American country has been inextricably linked to its violent history. Moving images have been used for historiography, propaganda, disinformation and to instil unity in a nation that refuses to come together. Falsos positivos, murdered youths disguised as guerrillas by the army to simulate military success, are a common element.

It's the beginning of spring. Federico travels for 20 days from Bogota, Colombia, to Buenos Aires, Argentine. In Buenos Aires he meets a couple of friends that introduce him to Florencia, a girl that makes him doubt his return.

Two young Colombians, Luna y Juan, live in the suburbs of a Buenos Aires without Argentines. Their relationship oscillates between tender gestures and violent explosions. Everything between them gradually gets more intense: their games, fights, recklessness and even their monotony. But something changes when Federica shows up that sets into crisis the fragile nature of their relationship, unveiling the decadence they have gotten themselves into.