THE CONTESTANT – El Concursante
Colombia, 2017
Spanish with English subtitles | 93 min 
Director: Carlos Osuna

Sunday, August 26th 
1pm @ The Cinematheque
Thursday, August 30th 
6:45pm @ The Cinematheque

A spice company announces a nationwide contest where 2000 pressure cookers will be handed out in exchange for 20 labels of one of their products. In Cartagena, Cristobal’s mother, obsessed with securing one, orders him to stand in line; when he arrives, he discovers that thousands more have already been waiting since the early morning hours. Twelve thousand hopeful people sit in the blazing sun for hours on end for their chance of getting a free cooker. All hell breaks loose when the participants begin to suspect that their efforts will come to nothing. Rife with delightfully absurd humour and a roast of machismo culture, The Contestant is a scathing satire of a society pushed to its limits by consumerism.

“A film made for those who have suffered some kind of injustice. A movie for those who have to live in a society governed by chance. A society where we are always on a list to be selected but never get chosen. A society of contestants who will never win.” – Carlos Osuna

Una compañía de especias anuncia un concurso nacional en el que se regalarán 2,000 ollas a presión a cambio de 20 etiquetas de uno de sus productos. Obsesionada con ganar una de estas ollas, la madre de Cristóbal lo manda a hacer fila; cuando llega, descubre que miles más han estado de pie desde las primeras horas de la madrugada. El caos estalla cuando los concursantes descubren que se quedarán con las manos vacías. La nueva película de Carlos Osuna (“Gordo, calvo y bajito”) es una sátira mordaz sobre un país llevado al borde de la locura por el consumismo.

Carlos’ Filmography: El Concursante (2017), Sin mover los labios (2015), Gordo, calvo y bajito (2012)

Carlos Osuna holds a Masters in the Visual Arts from the Javeriana University and has focused on filmmaking and video art, winning awards in Latin America, Europe and the United States. Executive producer of PERDER ES CUESTION DE METODO (2004), he is president of the production company Malta Cine. In 2012, he made his debut with FAT, BALD, SHORT MAN. EL CONCURSANTE, was selected for L’Atelier at Cannes in 2015. His latest film is WITH THE LIPS CLOSED (2016), selected at FICCI.