MATEO from Colombia Is Looking for Oscar

Source: Cinema Tropical

Mateo, the directorial debut feature film by María Gamboa has been selected as Colombia's Oscar entry for this year. The film follows Mateo, a 16 year-old kid who collects extortion money on behalf of his uncle and uses his pay to help out his mother, who grudgingly accepts the ill-gotten money out of need. They live by themselves in the poor, violent neighbourhoods alongside the Magdalena River valley in Colombia. To prove his worth, Mateo agrees to infiltrate a local theatre group in order to uncover its members’ political activities. As he becomes enthralled with the free-flowing creative lifestyle of the troupe, his uncle escalates demands on him to produce incriminating information on the actors. Under pressure, Mateo must make difficult choices.

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