SILVER

Hippopotami roam across sub-Saharan Africa and, thanks to notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, a small yet growing area of Colombia. Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias uses this oddity to examine the effects of colonialism and displacement through an idiosyncratic doc/narrative hybrid. Employing a hypnotic baritone narration attributed to Pepe himself — a voiceover that switches between Afrikaans, the Namibian dialect Mbukushu and Spanish — Arias lets the creature, a rogue male shot dead in 2009 under the auspices of the Colombian government, tell his own story, one filled with deep philosophical questions about language, life and death. Archival scenes and stunning 16mm footage featuring trippy shots of the hippos in their watery habitats add an engrossing visual element to this rich and rewarding film. Official Selection, Berlin and Karlovy Vary film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias; PROD Pablo Lozano, Tanya Valette. Dominican Republic/Namibia/Germany/France, 2024, color/b&w, 122 min. In Spanish, Afrikaans, Mbukushu and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

No AFI Member passes accepted.