Best Colombian drama movies

On a faraway mountaintop, eight kids with guns watch over a hostage and a conscripted milk cow.

The epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people, and two scientists that, over the course of 40 years, travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that can heal them. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.

Helena, a young woman on a deep space mission, has been alone for 20 years. Her parents abandoned ship after a technical malfunction made it impossible for all three of them to reach their intended destination. Alex, an isolated engineer, is about to enter her life and turn her world upside down.

During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture.

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.

After hearing a loud ‘bang’ at daybreak, a Scottish woman begins experiencing a mysterious sensory syndrome while traversing the jungles of Colombia.

An aspiring teen thieves learn what it takes to be successful pickpockets on the streets of Bogotá

Rá, Culebro, Sere, Winny and Nano. Five boys who live on the streets of Medellín. Five kings with no kingdom, no law, no family, set out on a journey in search of the promised land. A subversive tale told through a wild and endearing clan, somewhere between reality and delirium. A journey to nowhere, where everything happens.

A group of tenants facing eviction due to a city renovation unite to fight back, but as they clash with the landlord and his ruthless attorney, they each transform into the opposite of who they once were.

Based on the novels by Colombian writer Mario Mendoza and on the character of detective Frank Molina, the filming of Los Initiados took place in Bogotá. In the saga of Frank Molina, which uses the books Lady Massacre, La melancolia de los feos, El diario del fin del mundo and Akelarre, the story of an alcoholic private investigator who unmasks sinister plots within the underworld of Bogotá is told.

A motley crew of young boys in Colombia lives only for one passion: soccer. But when their precious new ball rolls into a minefield, their dreams are suddenly on hold. Even as the village becomes the center of a tug-of-war between right-wing paramilitary groups and leftist guerrillas, the idea of a rescue attempt is too tempting to resist.

Monica is 13 years old and has already created her own world, on the street, where she fights courageously to defend what little she has: her friends, her boyfriend, who sells drugs, and her dignity and pride that makes no concessions to anyone. On Christmas night, like every night, she sells roses to make a living. But life brings her a new appointment with loneliness, poverty, drugs and death.

The real life story of Andres Lopez Lopez aka "Frecita" during his years involved with the Colombian Cartel aka "Cartel Norte del Valle"

When an up-and-coming stylist is found stabbed to death in his home, a young detective is given 20 days to solve the case. Inspired by true events.

In the crime world of Colombia, there is an unwritten code. When Víctor and Eusebio, two hoods who bungle a shake-down job, break that code, they unwittingly sign their own death sentence.

Paola is born in a traditional Colombian family, or at least that is what they try to be. Her father is a priest, her mother is a "psychic" and her sisters are not what their parents expected. She is a young Latin American woman struggling for her independence in a hard context full of stereotypes and appearances not being able to fit in any mold. With a unique feminine vision of the world this girl learns to live while she lives as she witnesses a series of small crises that shape her personality.

Based on the Mario Mendoza's book and inspired by true events, tells three interconnected stories happening in the eve of the infamous Pozzetto Massacre.

Sara and Óscar, a couple going through a marital crisis, decide to spend a week in a remote country cabin with their two children, Alicia and Tomás. The family tries to have a quiet time, but something strange happens there. There is a woman who prowls through the forest and cries uncontrollably looking for a baby she has just lost. This deeply affects the family who will have to stay together to survive this nightmare.

In a timeless México where women are disappearing, a girl helps her dad, a tormented addict, to take care of an abandoned baseball camp where the narcos gather to play.

Rodrigo is a marginalized and lonely being who prefers to die before being forced to kill. He finds himself trapped in a city that oppresses him, calls him, marginalizes him.

In the thickness of the mountains, in an isolated community led by a preacher known as El Señor, a presumed new Messiah is brought, unleashing a wave of violence and pain.

The air is thick with tension as a military squad proceeds to the foot of a mountain base, where they're ordered to wait for backup and hold their position. The mountain is shrouded in fog and the men are exhausted. They've been fighting guerrillas on enemy turf for some time, and they're worn down by the stress and anxiety of battle. The men don't want to wait; they want to charge up the hill, fearing that their comrades in the base have been overrun by the guerrillas. The squad's leader tries futilely to keep his men in line while dealing with his insolent second-in-command.

Two pensioners, a video camera and an indecent proposal.

Colombian director Víctor Gaviria melds stark realism with nail-biting thrills in this story about a teenage girl who is kidnapped and forced into marriage with a ferocious shantytown thug.

A forty-year-old poet wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed. Accused of his mother's murder, he claims it was an act of love: a plan to aid his mother's death and end his own life at the same time.

Dramatisation of the massacre which took place in Colombia in 1948, as a result of conflict between conservative and liberal forces, and concentrating on the character of a former cheesemonger-turned professional killer.

Esmeralda (Marcela Mar), a woman determined to uncover the truth behind the tragedy that destroyed her family, embarks on a desperate quest that leads her to unearth the darkest secrets of La Alameda, a small mining community in Colombia. With the help of Joaquín (Juan Pablo Urrego), a farmer who knows the land and its dangers well, she follows the last traces of her late husband, a high executive at a multinational mining company. Together, they slowly peel back the layers of something much more sinister and discover an ambitious society fighting for gold and territory. Esmeralda becomes trapped in a dangerous game of betrayal and power, where every step she takes brings her closer to the truth... but also to death.

In a Catholic seminary, Brother Nestor is found dead and his best friend, Brother Esteban, tells the story of the events that preceded his death. There, a repressed and unhealthy love is discovered.

Era Oculta – “Hidden Era” unfolds in the vibrant city of Maputo, where Rastafari artist Phambi fights with securing his son’s education amidst the rhythmic beats of Mozambique. Constantly on the brink of expulsion due to payment delays, Phambi’s artistic journey becomes a compelling narrative, showcasing the challenges and triumphs of an artist navigating the unique landscape of Mozambique. The film amidst the vibrant art scene, two young women, allies to Phambi, play a pivotal role in supporting his artistic endeavors. They willingly pose for him, adding depth and inspiration to his creations. Their presence in the film not only highlights the collaborative spirit within the artistic community but also brings a nuanced perspective to the narrative, reflecting the diverse voices that contribute to the cultural tapestry of Maputo.

A soon-to-be-bride takes one last night to try something she's always wanted to in Paris, a passionate affair reaches its breaking point in the suburbs of America and two 'friends' finally have a long-postponed conversation about their previous romantic encounter. An anthology of short films from female filmmakers about lesbian and LGBTQIA+ relationships.

After an extensive immersion work on abandoned childhood, Ciro Durán presents, from his point of view, the life of street children, who have broken all family ties and have regrouped to survive in the concrete jungle.

The story, based on true events occurred in Colombia en May 2003, tells the dreams and adventures of Porras, Venegas, Lloreda and Perlaza, four of the 147 soldiers that were in a company of the anti-guerrilla "Destroyer" battalion. It begun when these soldiers found in the middle of the jungle, during a rescue mission, 46 million dollars inside a FARC "guaca". Instead of give it to the Government, they take it all for themselves instead. They desperate when realize that they're completely isolated because the bridge, the only way to return to civilization, has been blown up. Everything's ironic, almost surreal: These soldiers don't have food, water, or toilet paper, but they sleep on their dollar-ful bags. This discovery will change their lives forever, and will allow them to have everything they've dreamt about: some authority, power and respect, others help their families and have a no-longer poor life. Their big challenge: return to civilization and make their dreams come true.

A couple of farmers have been displaced from their land, a jungle area, isolated from the world, where lived his childhood and youth, and was brutally thrown to face the streets of an unfamiliar city, huge and ruthless.

In Cienfuegos in the 1980s, a poetic young girl tries to make sense of her parents' volatile separation while keenly observing the reality of Cuba's dilemmas.

Alicia is a 42-year-old-woman whose grief has caused her estrangement from society. Her world is turned upside down when 14-year-old Chief, a young boy who looks after people’s cars, stumbles into her house, bleeding.

Catalina is a young, beautiful girl living in extreme poverty with her brother Bayron and her mother Hilda. She becomes obsessed with getting breast implants to get social status and money. She leaves her boyfriend Albeira and becomes a prostitute for drug dealers. In this way she will enjoy all the luxuries that she lacks. Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Albeira and her mother Hilda begin a relationship behind her back.

The 10-year-old Camila spends the summer with her grandmother, almost exclusively in the company of women. They lovingly look after each other; cook, eat and bathe together; care for their skin and talk a lot. Camila quickly realises that there is more that binds them together than mere kinship: a curse is said to have been cast on the women in the family, causing unhappiness in their relationships. This belief is convenient, given that Camila longs for nothing more than her parents’ separation.

Cali, Colombia, 1970s. The fictional story of Pedro Rey, the first drug trafficker and drug lord.

The arrival of Juan, who has been away from the family for years, profoundly alters the life of Mario, who seems to have "mortgaged" his life in the care of his mother and the cancer that now has her in a terminal phase.

Two filmmakers from different countries explore the memories of their mothers, to create a narrative fiction concerning the recovery of life.

Anna is a young woman living in Paris, daily struggling with her emotional frailty. She tries to spend more time with her ten-year-old son, Nathan, but Philippe, her former husband, does not trust her anymore and threatens to take full custody of the child. Having no other choice, she convinces her boyfriend Bruno to help her, and the three of them fly away to Colombia. During this journey, Anna will strive to build a new family, and will face the difficulty of being a mother.

William, a five-year-old boy, loses his innocence while helping his uncle Gustavo organize an orchestra with several friends.

Former Sergeant Diogenes Hernandez owns the Universal, a precarious detective agency private in the Centre of Bogotá, which is based in the same apartment where he and his wife Fabiola inhabit. His nephew, Clemente Fernández, who works at the Agency, maintains a romance with Fabiola, without trying to hurt the feelings of his uncle, but driven by the need to alleviate their empty urban and anonymous man.

In this poetic, richly allegorical debut by Colombian director William Vega, a teenage girl flees to a rundown inn after being driven from her home in the Andean highlands by civil war, as the violence engulfing the country creeps ever closer to her remote refuge. (TIFF)

Eva and Candela meet two years after their relationship ends because Eva needs something from Candela. Although they seem to have remade their lives, they still have outstanding issues between them.

Itzia is a deaf woman who claims to have started hearing a peculiar music that always comes from the same cardinal point. In the village where she lives, people believe she is going crazy and try to convince her to see a doctor. But Itzia is certain that these melodies are not a product of her imagination. To prove she is not insane, she will have to embark on a journey to find the source of the music.

The economy is not doing well and in a few months Lucia will lose the mortgaged house where she lives with her two children, Mr. Carlos the owner of the Second-hand store, Sergio, Clown by day, waiter by night, and his wife Victoria. Julieta, the youngest child, is the family's salvation. She just graduated from law school when, on the morning of November 6, 1985, she leaves for her job at the Palace of Justice and never returns. There are witnesses that claim to have seen her alive after the Palace burned down after the Guerilla attack, the habitants lives of the house won't be the same. Based on true events and on a play in Colombia, 1985.

The youngest daughter of a family of sloths reconstructs their story. A metaphor about the sometimes wild nature that inhabits family environments.

At the impressionable age of 16, young Mateo faces a dilemma about the direction his life will take when his corrupt uncle asks him to infiltrate a local Barrancabermeja theatre group to uncover its members' political activities.

The unscrupulousness of members of the Colombian army destroys the love between twenty-year-old Roland and Lady in El Paraíso, an impoverished neighborhood of Bogotá.

Alejandro, the youngest of his recently deceased father's two sons, is brimming with anger, upset that his father and older brother have for so long committed his mother to a rural Colombian mental asylum. He's convinced that the place for his schizophrenic mother is at home with her loved ones, not in an institution. While on an unannounced visit, he kidnaps his mother to take her home with him once and for all – but Alejandro is soon overwhelmed by his mother's mental incapacities as they embark on a journey of love and commitment, of emotional and physical extremes.

Teenager Ángela meets her three adult step-sisters for the first time when their father dies. Fearing that Ángela will end up in state custody, the sisters embark on a 900-mile journey across Colombia to leave the young girl with an aunt she doesn't even know. During this journey, Ángela will discover what it means to be a woman.

A young woman raising alone her children while her husband gets drunk but when she breaks free nothing will be the same.

Mariano Concha, a public employee for whom soccer is a great passion. After seeing how the Colombian National Team achieves a draw against Argentina, he starts a whole process to attend the next crucial match, in Bogota and against the same team, going over all his duties and risking the future of his reduced economy. An unexpected event transforms his plans to go to the stadium.

Oscuro animal tells the story of three women forced to flee their homes in a war torn region in Colombia. Each of their journeys, marked by terror, takes them on a trek from the deep jungle to the outskirts of Bogotá, where they will gather new strength to start a new life.

A grandfather, in the final stage of his existence, asks two of his grandchildren to kill him because he wants to die by the hand of someone who bears his own blood. However, the young children discover a truth that will make them take the opposite decision.

During a night of 1989, in the middle of the Salvadoran civil war, six Jesuit priests were murdered at the UCA University. The news has an immediate international repercussion since their contribution was key in the foreseeable peace agreement after a decade of bloody war. Who killed them? The government immediately blamed the guerrillas but an eyewitness debunked the official version. Her name is Lucía and she works as a cleaning employee at the UCA. She has seen who were the real killers: the army. Now she will have to choose between testifying for the truth or protecting her family.

Estimados Señores sheds light on the little-known suffragette movement in Colombia. Set in 1954, the film follows Esmeralda Arboleda, a fiercely intelligent leader, who ignites a revolution in a society rooted in patriarchal traditions, culminating in a fierce and decisive debate. A group of women embark on a historic struggle to bring women's voting rights to the National Constituent Assembly. With bold marches, radio appearances and a brilliant media strategy that places them on the front page, they achieve their goal, but the real challenge begins in the debate, where they face fierce opposition. Esmeralda Arboleda must endure personal attacks from the assembly members, and just as she is about to speak, she receives a heartbreaking call: her son has suffered a serious accident. She is torn between her duty as a mother and her commitment to the cause, with an unfavorable outcome.

Camilo, Mechas, Manu, Ana and Pipa are five friends going through that blended trance of intense unrest, astonishment, contained tenderness and manifested rage that is typical of the end of adolescence. They survive at the edges of a city, Medellin, that simultaneously attracts and excludes them, that lure them with promises but rejects them with hostility. Nevertheless, they want to embrace the city and fight against its logics of fear. Music, street art and friendship are their weapons of resistance, hoping for a rite of passage that could transform them into someone else.

1985. Bogotá. In the days before the M-19 took over the Palace of Justice, Salvador Velazquez, a lonely tailor, becomes involved in a clumsy and particular love affair with Isabel, the new elevator operator of his building. But the paranoia, violence and latent threats in Bogotá permeate their blossoming affair.

Mariana is a systematic girl. She studies English and German at a language school. She works in a call center as many hours as possible and saves everything she earns. To entertain herself a little, she looks for men in bars with whom she only plans to spend one night. Why compromise if she just wants to travel? That is Mariana's plan, to go away and what better than to an island in the Mediterranean. But Gabriel, an unlikely boy who keeps getting into her life with bad jokes and uncomfortable questions, forces her to look at herself and wonder what she wants to run away from.

The vengeance of a housemaid against the family that hired her.

The naughty and funny witch Dioselina provides esoteric services to her neighbors helping them with rituals and ridiculous oddments, until her success falls apart when Dr. Sarmiento, a corrupt politician closes her business. This situation motivates her to want to unmask the intentions of the politician, uniting with her neighbors in a campaign to give her her due.

A journalist documents the experiences of three different people who lived through the tragic Salvadoran civil war of the 1980s, which lasted twelve years.