Theo Montoya's Colombian documentary will participate in Venice International Critics' Week from August 31 to September 10.
The International Film Critics' Week is an independent section that runs concurrently with the Venice International Film Festival, and it's organized by the Italian Film Critics Association (SNCCI). It was founded in 1984 by film historian and critic Lino Micciché. Over the years, it has become the showcase window for the first films of emerging directors on the international scene. Filmmakers such as Kevin Reynolds, France's Olivier Assayas, Britain's Mike Leigh, Portugal's Pedro Costa, and Argentina's Pablo Trapero, to name a few, have initiated their careers at this event.
In 2022, the event comes to its 37th edition. Its program includes the world premiere of the feature film Anhell69, a documentary written and directed by Theo Montoya and co-produced by Desvío Visual (Colombia), Monogram Film (Romania), Dublin Films (France), and Amerikafilm (Germany). This Colombian co-production competes with Tant que le soleil frappe (Beating Sun) by Philippe Petit (France); Dogbornby Isabella Carbonell (Sweden); Eismayer by David Wagner (Austria); Da li ste videli ovu zenu? (Have you Seen this Woman?) by Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluščević (Serbia, Croatia); Margini (Margins) by Niccolò Falsetti (Italy); and Aus meiner haut (Skin Deep) by Alex Schaad (Germany).
In Anhell69, a hearse drives through Medellín streets while a young director tells the story of his past in this violent, conservative city. He recalls preparing to produce his first film, a haunted B-movie. Medellin's young queer scene makes up the film's cast, but the main character dies of a heroin overdose at 21, as do many of the director's friends. The film explores a doomed generation's dreams, doubts, and fears and the struggle to continue filmmaking.
The film is a recipient of the Film Development Fund - FDC in Colombia. It received support from the Medellín Film Commission Fund for its production and participated in the Projects section of the Bogotá Audiovisual Market - BAM 2020. It has benefitted from the World Cinema Fund 2021, the Tribeca All Access 2020 stimulus for storytellers and documentary filmmakers from systematically excluded communities, and the Santiago International Film Festival Award - SANFIC 2019. It was also part of DOCLAB of the Buenos Aires International Documentary Film Festival - FIDBA, Argentina, 2019; Docs in Progress of the Cannes Film Festival 2020; the IX Europe - Latin America Co-Production Forum of the San Sebastian Film Festival 2020; the IDFA Forum 2022; and Cine en Desarrollo 16 of the Toulouse Latin American Film Festival 2021.
Theo Montoya is the founder and director of the production company Desvío Visual, which creates experimental films and documentaries. For over seven years, he has worked in film production with young people in Medellín, focusing on queer, nihilistic, and social issues. His documentary Son of Sodom, part of the Colombian short film catalog REFRESH Vol.2, was part of the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2020, in IDFA the same year. It also received a Special Jury Mention at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival, among other awards.
Besides director and screenwriter, he was the producer, director of photography and participated in the editing of Anhell69. His technical team included Alejandra López in production and costume design; Marius Leftărache, Victor Miu, Marian Bălan, Dragoș Știrbu, Eloísa Arcila Fernández and Estephany Cano, in sound; Matthieu Taponier and Delia Oniga in editing; and Vlad Feneșan and Marius Leftărache in the music. The cast includes Camilo Najar, Sergio Pérez, Juan Pérez, Alejandro Hincapié, Julián David Moncada, Camilo Machado, Víctor Gaviria and Alejandro Mendigaña.
