Theo Montoya, originally from Medellín, Colombia, is a director, cinematographer and producer. He is the founder and director of the production company Desvio Visual, which is dedicated to the creation of auteur films and experimental films. His first short film, Son of Sodom, was part of the Official Short Film Selection at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and many other festivals around the world. With this film, he has won several awards, including the Grand Prix of the Drama Film Festival in Greece, the Best of Short Documentary in Interfilm Berlin, and got a special Jury’s Mention in Clermont Ferrand’s Labo Competition. Anhell69 is his first feature film, having its world premiere at the 37th Venice Critics’ Week (79th Venice International Film Festival).
Anhell69
Anhell69
Anhell69
A director reflects on his past amid the violent city of Medellin. He recalls his debut film's pre-production, casting from the queer scene, and the heroin-overdose death of the 21-year-old protagonist. The documentary explores the dreams and fears of an annihilated generation, and the struggle to carry on making cinema.
'To go through my life, is to talk about war, religion, cinema, and about when I met Camilo Najar, Sharlott, MH, Alejandro Paz, Julian David, Mendigana and Juan Perez. To talk about them is to evoke the film we could never make together Anhell69, the annihilation and the "Non-Future" of my generation, caused by suicide and drugs, and also by the oppression of a conservative and violent society, which tries to exterminate anything that would challenge the status quo. We are finally making Anhell69, not how we first imagined, but in the manner life is allowing us to do it, me and my remaining friends, the protagonists of the film. Anhell69 is the immortalisation of our recollections, our memory, our life before death, and maybe a warning for the generations and governments to follow'. - Theo MONTOYA
