10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

La defensa del dragón (The Dragon Defense) (2018 Feature Film)

Natalia SANTA | Colombia | 2017 | color | DCP | 80′ | Spanish | e.s.

Three Columbian friends discover that even when you’re middle-aged, you are never too old or wise to fail in this feature-film debut with its own style. Everyday reality’s unpredictability ensures that they have to make choices well outside their comfort zone. 

In the old city centre of Columbian metropolis Bogotá, three middle-aged friends seek refuge in places that have scarcely changed and offer safety in an uncertain life where loss lurks round every corner. This is why chess player Samuel, a diehard bachelor, mainly plays people he knows he can beat. Homeopath Marcos convinces himself his gambling issues can be solved. And watchmaker Joaquín hopes that by ignoring messages from his landlord he can stay in the studio he took over from his father.

For her understated drama Natalia Santa consciously sought out locations in Bogotá that time forgot, places that exude the history and traditions of the Columbian city. The calm, static shots with plenty of eye for detail and the vintage-looking set design are seamlessly aligned with this concept.

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 11 April 2018

Time: 20:30

Duration: 1:03

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 12 April 2018

Time: 13:45

Duration: 1:03

Place: The Cinemas 6

Date: 14 April 2018

Time: 18:15

Duration: 1:03

Year in
Festival

2018

Director

Natalia SANTA

Camera

Nicolás Ordóñez
Iván Herrera

Cast

Gonzalo de Sagarminaga
Hernan Mendez
Manuel Navarro
Maia Landaburu
Martha Leal
Laura Osma
Victoria Hernandez

Country

Colombia

Editor

Juan Soto

Language

Spanish

Length

80′

Music

Gonzalo de Sagarminaga

Producer

Ivette Liang

Production Company

Galaxia 311

Production Design

Marcela Gómez Montoya

Sales

http://www.m-appeal.net/the-dragon-defense

Scenario

Natalia Santa

Sound Design

Juanma López

Year of Production

2017

Natalia SANTA

Natalia SANTA (1977, Colombia) studied literature in New York and lived there for some time before returning to her country of birth, where she took on various scriptwriting and production jobs in the Colombian TV industry. The feature film she wrote herself, The Dragon Defense (2017), marks her debut as a director.

 

Filmography

La defensa del dragón/The Dragon Defense (2017)