Wonderful news from ArtMattan Films!

Juan Andrés Arango’s La Playa D.C., which ArtMattan acquired and is releasing, is Colombia’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award consideration.

This marks the country’s 22nd submission for Oscar consideration. None of its entries has made the Academy’s short list however, unfortunately.

The drama centers on Tomas, an Afro-Colombian teenager struggling with the difficulties of growing up in a city (Bogota) of racism against and exclusion of those who look like him; When his younger brother disappears, Tomas is forced to leave his home to look for him. With the help from his older brother Chaco, Tomas roams the city’s streets, as his search becomes more of a journey in which he’s forced to face his past, and to leave aside the influence of his brothers in order to find his own identity.

It’s a quiet, contemplative coming-of-age drama that stars Luis Carlos Guevara as Tomas; Andrés Murillo plays younger brother Jairo, and Jairo James Solis plays older brother Chaco.

The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

Both Nijla and I have seen the film and are high on it; read her review of it HERE, and read my reactions HERE.