The Dragon Defense

This Colombian feature film chronicles the lives of three men in Bogotá. The main protagonist Samuel is an apathetic teacher of chess and mathematics, long separated from his wife and daughter, who drifts between his small rented apartment and the chess club Lasker, seemingly without purpose. Together with his closest friends – the gambling homeopath Marcos and the clock-maker Joaquin – he spends most of the day gossiping and bickering in cafés, casinos and apartments. Most of the drama in this melancholic tale is never shown on camera, but at one point all three men are confronted with their own failures and missteps, and with their apathy. The film takes its name from a variant of the so-called sicilian defense in chess, and although this strategy may keep you out of trouble on the chess board, going for remis in real life doesn't get you anywhere.

On the surface, The Dragon Defense may seem like a gloomy affair, but for the patient and observant viewer there is much pleasure to gain from Natalia Santa's debut feature. Her matter-of-factly narration and the bitter-sweet, Latin American bluesy atmosphere make for a good combination. The musical score is a treat in itself, comprised of classical tango compositions that mirror the characters' faded ambitions. In static, but well-composed tableaus, the film depicts spaces in places in Bogota that seem to have changed little in the past forty years – much like the film's protagonists. Kasper Bræin Selvig

Natalia Santa (b. 1977) studied literature, and originally aimed for an academic career. While waiting tables in New York, she was invited back to her home country Colombia to co-write a soap series with her mother, and this paved the way for her working in TV and eventually in film. The Dragon Defense is her feature film debut, and the first film by a female Colombian director ever to be selected for the Cannes film festival.