The Kings of the World
English-language film poster
SpanishLos reyes del mundo
Directed byLaura Mora Ortega
Written byMaria Camila Arias
Laura Mora Ortega
Produced byCristina Gallego
Paz Lázaro
Elisa Fernanda Pirir
Regina Solórzano
Mirlanda Torres
StarringCarlos Andrés Castañeda
Davison Florez
Brahian Acevedo
Cristian Campaña
Cristian David Duque
CinematographyDavid Gallego
Edited bySebastian Hernandez
Gustavo Vasco
Music byLeonardo Heiblum
Alexis Ruiz
Production
companies
Caracol Televisión
Ciudad Lunar Producciones
Dago García Producciones
Iris Productions
Tu Vas Voir Production
Talipot Studio
Mer Films
Release dates
September 21, 2022 (Zinemaldia)
October 13, 2022 (Colombia)
Running time
103 minutes
Countries
  • Colombia
  • Luxembourg
  • France
  • Mexico
  • Norway
LanguageSpanish

The Kings of the World (Spanish: Los reyes del mundo) is a 2022 internationally co-produced drama road movie directed by Laura Mora Ortega. Set in Medellín, the drama is about five teenage friends who live on the streets. As a result, they leave a Colombian city to start over in the countryside. The film premiered in September 2022 at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival where it won the Golden Shell for Best Picture.[1][2]

Synopsis

Rá, Culebro, Sere, Winny and Nano live on the streets of Medellín. The five children no longer have any contact with their families. They form a kind of fraternal clan in which they have to make their way in a parallel world without laws. In doing so, they uphold ideals such as friendship and dignity, but also display disobedience and resistance. In a dangerous journey between delirium and nothingness, the group leaves the city and enters the depths of the Colombian interior. There they hope to find a piece of land that Rá inherited from his late grandmother. Like thousands of other Colombians, she was once violently expelled by the paramilitaries. After her death, Rá received the "promised land" through a government restitution program. The boys make friends that help them advance but also warn them of the dangers of their company. They also meet sex workers who provide them with short-term maternity care.[3][4]

Cast

  • Carlos Andrés Castañeda as Rá
  • Davison Florez as Sere
  • Brahian Acevedo as Nano
  • Cristian Campaña as Winny
  • Cristian David Duque as Culebro

Release

Festivals

The Kings of the World premiered on 21 September 2022 at the 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival.[5][6] The work was previously screened to international distributors at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, along with ten other critically acclaimed films.[7] Other invitations followed in the film festival programs of Zurich (September)[8] and Chicago (October).[9]

Theatrical

The film was theatrically released in Colombia on 13 October 2022, with opening attendance figures below expectations (28,117 admissions throughout the first 5 days of its theatrical run).[10]

International

On October 24, 2022, Netflix acquires the film for distribution in the Americas (except Colombia-Mexico).[11] It premiered on the platform on January 4, 2023.[12] Bteam Pictures will distribute in theaters in Spain.[13]

Reception

Critical reception

According to the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, The Kings of the World has a 96% approval rating based on 27 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Journeying between lyricism and brutal reality, The Kings of the World is a hopeful trip towards freedom away from the city where it cruelly dead ends".[14]

Cristóbal Soage (Cineuropa) praised the film as an "extraordinary work" and the director Mora "as one of the greatest talents on the modern Latin American film scene," as well as the young actors of the same name. It is "a hallucinogenic story as cruel and painful as it is fascinating". He also raved about David Gallego's camera work, which captures "the poignant beauty of the Colombian jungle [...] in all its splendor." Soage described the scenes between the boys and the sex workers as "particularly moving". "In the end, we feel that we have witnessed an important work, a portrait of a time and place as comprehensive and precise as it is poetic and moving," says the critic.[15]

Guy Lodge (Variety)[16] saw a "raw, offbeat coming-of-age drama" that transcends the sentimentality that tends to dominate the genre "with a delirious, even surreal energy in its five-story Medellin street children".

Accolades

For The Kings of the World, Laura Mora won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, as well as the Feroz Zinemaldia Prize and the SIGNIS Prize from the World Catholic Association for the communication.[16] It has also been invited to international feature film competitions at the Zurich[8] and Chicago festivals.[9]

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2022 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Shell Laura Mora Ortega Won [17]
Feroz Zinemaldia Award Won
SIGNIS Awards Won
Oslo Films from the South Festival Silver Mirror Award - Best Feature The Kings of the World Nominated [18]
Silver Mirror Award - Honorable Mention Won
11st International Film Festival of Panama IFF Panama - In Competition Nominated [19]
58th Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo - Best Production Design Marcela Gómez Montoya & Daniel Rincon Won [20]
Gold Hugo - Best Feature The Kings of the World Nominated [21]
Warsaw International Film Festival Crème de la Crème Award Won [22]
18th Zurich Film Festival Golden Eye Award Won [23]
2023 The Hague Movies that Matter Festival Grand Jury Fiction Award Nominated [24]
Students' Choice Award Nominated [25]
13th Luxembourg City Film Festival Grand Prix - Official Competition Nominated [26]
International Cinephile Society Awards Best Cinematography David Gallego Nominated [27]
10th Platino Awards Best Original Score Leonardo Heiblum & Alexis Ruíz Nominated [28]
Best Cinematography David Gallego Nominated
Best Editing Sebastián Hernández & Gustavo Vasco Nominated
Best Sound Carlos García Nominated
11th Macondo Awards Best Picture The Kings of the World Won [29][30]
Best Director Laura Mora Ortega Won
Best Screenplay María Camila Arias & Laura Mora Ortega Nominated
Best Cinematography David Gallego Won
Best Art Direction Marcela Gómez & Daniel Rincón Won
Best Editing Sebastián Hernández & Gustavo Vasco Won
Best Sound Design Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos García & Boris Herrera Won
Best Costume Design Ana Acosta Ospina Nominated
Best Makeup Diana Parra Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fernández-Santos, Elsa (2022-09-24). "La tierra prometida de la colombiana 'Los reyes del mundo' gana la Concha de Oro de San Sebastián". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  2. ↑ "Festival de San Sebastián". sansebastianfestival (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  3. ↑ ""Los reyes del mundo", un filme colombiano sobre chicos de la calle, ganó en San Sebastián | Cine". La Voz del Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  4. ↑ "Crítica: Los reyes del mundo". Cineuropa - lo mejor del cine europeo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  5. ↑ Lopera Torres, Daniela (24 September 2022). "La película 'Los reyes del mundo' ganó la Concha de Oro, máximo galardón del Festival de Cine de San Sebastián". Alcaldía de Medellín.
  6. ↑ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  7. ↑ "TIFF unveils Industry Selects for 2022". TIFF. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  8. 1 2 Los reyes del mundo / The Kings of the World - Zurich Film Festival (in German), retrieved 2022-11-02
  9. 1 2 "The Kings of the World". Cinema Chicago. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  10. ↑ Arango D., Jaime Horacio (19 October 2022). "Así le fue en taquilla en el puente festivo a "Los Reyes del Mundo" de Laura Mora". El Colombiano.
  11. ↑ "Laura Mora's 'The Kings Of The World' Heads To Netflix In The Americas". About Netflix. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  12. ↑ "New On Netflix January 2023, Plus What's Coming Next". 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  13. ↑ Foreman, Liza (2022-09-23). "Bteam Pictures Acquires Spanish Rights to San Sebastián Competition Title 'Kings of the World' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  14. ↑ "The Kings of the World". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Review: The Kings of the World". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  16. 1 2 Lodge, Guy (2022-09-24). "Colombian Film 'Kings of the World' Tops San Sebastian Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  17. ↑ Lodge, Guy (2022-09-24). "Colombian Film 'Kings of the World' Tops San Sebastian Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  18. ↑ "Oslo Films from the South Festival (2022)". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  19. ↑ ""Domingo y la niebla", "Los Reyes del Mundo" y "Aftersun" estarán presentes en la undécima edición del Festival Internacional de Cine de Panamá, IFF Panamá". Noticias de panamá Periódico diario de Panamá Novedades (in European Spanish). 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  20. ↑ "The Kings of the World". Cinema Chicago. Archived from the original on 2023-01-28. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  21. ↑ "Festival Award Winners". Cinema Chicago. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  22. ↑ Azad, Navid Nikkhah (2022-10-22). "2022 Warsaw International Film Festival unveils award winners". Deed News. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  23. ↑ "The Kings of the World is crowned yet again at the 18th Zurich Film Festival". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  24. ↑ "Grand Jury Fiction". Movies that Matter. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  25. ↑ "Students' Choice". Movies that Matter. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  26. ↑ "Official Competition Archives". Lux Film Festival. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  27. ↑ Stevens, Beth (2023-02-12). "2023 ICS Award Winners". International Cinephile Society. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  28. ↑ Rosado, Por Ricardo (2023-03-09). "Premios PLATINO 2023: 'Argentina, 1985' encabeza las nominaciones de la X edición". Fotogramas (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  29. ↑ "La lista completa de nominados a los Premios Macondo 2023". Radiónica. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  30. ↑ Bedoya, Ricardo (2023-11-06). "Los Reyes del Mundo película vencedora en los Premios Macondo 2023". Caracol Radio (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-07.
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