After a summer break, the “Marco Lugo” Cinematógrafo at the Municipal Center for the Arts (CMA) resumes operations this Saturday, August 29, at 6:00 PM with the feature film *Un poeta* (2025). Directed by Simón Mesa Soto, the film garnered awards at various festivals during its release year.
A Colombian-German-Swedish co-production, the film was written, co-produced, and directed by Mesa Soto, with John Bedoya serving as casting director. It blends comedy and drama, offering a unique perspective on failure, artistic calling, and the opportunities that arise when least expected.
It won the Jury Prize in the *Un Certain Regard* section at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival—an accolade of special significance in the director’s career, given that he had previously won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes in 2014 for *Leidi*. *Un poeta* has also received major recognition at Latin American festivals, including the Best Film award in the international competition at SANFIC and various awards at the Lima Film Festival.
The plot closely follows Oscar Restrepo, a poet who once dreamed of achieving literary greatness but has, over the years, become an erratic, disillusioned man trapped by his own failure.
His life changes when he meets Yurlady, a teenager from a humble background who demonstrates a special sensitivity to poetry. Oscar decides to become her mentor, seeing in her the chance to reclaim something of what he himself had lost; however, his attempt to introduce her to the literary world also forces him to confront his own frustrations.
Mesa Soto crafts a film with a distinctive tone; At once funny and melancholic, the comedy stems from an imperfect, obsessive, and often ridiculous protagonist; yet beneath the humor lies a reflection on the need to feel useful, the passage of time, and the difficulty of distinguishing between helping someone and projecting our own dreams onto them.
Juan Sarmiento Grisales’s cinematography and the actors’ performances help create an intimate atmosphere, while the director avoids turning the story into a simple fable about a teacher and his student.
Admission is free but limited; the film is screened in its original language with Spanish subtitles, and the doors to the Cinematógrafo open 20 minutes before the start time.
