The Kings of the World

A brutal but strikingly beautiful portrayal of a group of street boys' search for a better future in the dark side of Colombian society.

The Kings of the World very deservedly won the main prize at this year's San Sebastián International Film Festival, and follows five young boys who, although they feel let down by family, friends and society, refuse to give up their dream of a better life. From their everyday life in the streets of Medellín, the boys travel out into the countryside in search of a small piece of land which it turns out one of them has inherited from his grandmother. For a gang that is used to never expecting anything from anyone, it turns out that it will be anything but simple to cooperate to claim the inheritance.

Director Laura Mora Ortega depicts the boys' lives with both respect and curiosity, and their situation appears neither beautiful nor pitch black. A central part of the portrayal is also David Gallego's (Bird of Passage, Embrace of the Serpent) superb cinematography. The fierce beauty of the Colombian nature is revealed in a series of dreamy and poetic scenes that take both the characters and the audience away from the harsh realities of the film.

Jon Sæter

16. NOV – Conversation between Erika Rojas and Laura Camacho Salgado

After the screening of KINGS OF THE WORLD in Vika 2 at 18.00 on Wednesday NOV 16th there will be a short talk that will address the importance of a female gaze to dismantle the toxic masculinity that has determined the Colombian history marked violence. The struggle of land, the quest for dignity and the importance of the disobedience of the young generation. Five kings as the face of the generation that is not scared anymore, are we in the face of a new Colombia? Can we be kings without land?

The conversation will be between Erika Rojas, PhD Candidate doing research on Peace and Conflict Studies, Gender and Critical Security Studies, and Laura Camacho Salgado, Head of international program at Oslo World and program adviser at Film Fra sør. Independent researcher interested in film studies, body politics, migration studies and border aesthetics.

18. NOV – Intro, Peace Brigade International

The screening of THE KINGS OF THE WORLD at 16.15 in Vika 2 is introduced by Andrea Torres from Peace Brigade International.

Director

Laura Mora Ortega (b. 1981) is a Colombian director and screenwriter from Medellín. Together with one of the country's biggest directors, Carlos Moreno, she directed over 80 episodes of the TV series Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (2012). Her previous film, Killing Jesus (2017), won a total of 19 awards at various film festivals, and was shown at the Film From the South festival in 2017.

This film is part of