Heli

Heli won the award for Best Director at the Cannes festival 2013. We meet the 17-old Heli, who is father to a baby and lives with his wife, father and little sister Estella in a small house in the heart of an area that is dominated by violence, drugs and corruption. He works night shifts at a car factory, and makes great efforts to protect himself and his family from the brutal reality around them. Estella, who is not yet a teenager, is dating the several years older cadet Beto. When Beto steals cocaine and hides the packages in the house of Heli and his family, things go terribly wrong. Suddenly, Heli finds himself in the midst of struggle against bandits, the military and the police. The film works with complex themes and portrays ordinary people in extraordinarily desperate situations in an often rough and brutal way, but the story is soberly told and director Escalante is spot on with the portrayals of characters and environment.

Amat Escalante (b. 1979) is a well-known director for the Films from the South audience, and both Los Bastardos and Heli were screened at the festival in 2009 and 2013, respectively. In addition, the latter won the Best director award at Festival de Cannes. Escalante got his education at Center for Cinematographic of Catalonia.