A film that's on my to-see list, if it ever makes it to NYC – Chocó, set in Colombia, which centers on the struggles of a 27-year-old mother of 2 (the titular Chocó), working a poorly-paid job in a gold mine, living in a tiny wooden hut, who's married to a reckless and abusive man named Everlides, a marimba player who gambles away their life savings.

Further…

… She truly believes that things will get better. But then she loses her job, her daughter wants her birthday cake and Everlides spends the last of their savings. Chocó finds herself standing in the village shop she passes every day and in front of which Everlides drinks away all their money and loses at dominoes. She looks at the colourful cakes on the counter. "You won’t get anything for nothing here," the fat shopkeeper reminds her. "If you want a cake, I want you."

The film is producer and screenwriter Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza’s directorial debut.

It premiered at the Berlinale in February this year, in its Panorama section. S&A was repped at Berlin this year thankfully, with reviews provided by Denise VanDeCruze. She saw Chocó and reviewed it mostly positively, with some reservations, HERE.

It hasn't screened much elsewhere since then, but I've been tracking it, and I learned this morning that it will screen at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD, on Saturday, September 29 at 9:30pm, and Wednesday, October 3, at 5pm.

For tickets, click HERE.

Watch the official trailer for Chocó below (It's not subtitled in English unfortunately; but I think you'll be sucked in by the images).

Trailer Oficial CHOCÓ de Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza from PROIMAGENES COLOMBIA on Vimeo.