Monos

Patagrande, Rambo, Leidi, Sueca, Pitufo, Lobo, Perro and Bum Bum. Eight stray teenagers, each bearing a code name, form a paramilitary squad on a remote hilltop. They are instinctively drawn towards hedonism and ferocity. A messenger delivers instructions from the Organisation: they are to look after a dairy cow called Shakira and an abducted woman from the USA known as Doctora. But their carefree time comes to an end when death pays them a visit and their position is compromised, forcing them to relocate deeper into the jungle.
Alejandro Landes and co-writer Alexis Dos Santos have created a disquieting take on the war film and survival thriller. Theirs is a work of scant explanations but of visceral emotions. Heightened by Jasper Wolf’s piercing cinematography, Mica Levi’s superbly tense score and uncannily sharp editing by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Ted Guard and Santiago Otheguy, Landes’ exhilarating third feature impresses by zooming in on the shifting allegiances and power struggles of an adolescent, primal tribe.
by Alejandro Landes
with Julianne Nicholson, Moisés Arias, Sofía Buenaventura, Karen Quintero, Laura Castrillón, Deiby Rueda, Julián Giraldo, Paul Cubides, Sneider Castro, Wilson Salazar
Colombia / Argentina / Netherlands / Denmark / Sweden / Germany / Uruguay / USA 2019 Spanish 102’ Colour

With

  • Julianne Nicholson (Doctora)
  • Moisés Arias (Patagrande)
  • Sofía Buenaventura (Rambo)
  • Karen Quintero (Leidi)
  • Laura Castrillón (Sueca)
  • Deiby Rueda (Pitufo)
  • Julián Giraldo (Lobo)
  • Paul Cubides (Perro)
  • Sneider Castro (Bum Bum)
  • Wilson Salazar (Messenger)

Crew

Director Alejandro Landes
Screenplay Alejandro Landes, Alexis Dos Santos
Cinematography Jasper Wolf
Editing Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Ted Guard, Santiago Otheguy
Music Mica Levi
Sound Design Lena Esquenazi
Sound Javier Farina
Production Design Daniela Schneider
Costumes Johanna Buendía
Make-Up Andrés Ramirez, Alex Rojas
Casting Eyde Belasco, Catalina Rodriguez, Carlos Medina, Diana Murillo, Daniela Schneider, Alexis Dos Santos
Assistant Director Alejandro Ezpeleta
Production Manager Gustavo Pazmín Perea
Producers Alejandro Landes, Fernando Epstein, Santiago Zapata, Cristina Landes
Executive Producers Jorge Iragorri, Andrés Calderón, Gloria María Restrepo, Gustavo Pazmín Perea, Josef Rebalski, Charles De Viel Castel, Duke Merriman, J. C. Chandor
Co-Producers Leontine Petit, Derk-Jan Warrink, Nicolás Avruj, Diego Lerman, Katrin Pors, Anthony Muir, Agustina Chiarino, Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen
Co-Production Campo Cine Buenos Aires
Lemming Film Amsterdam
Snowglobe Film Kopenhagen
Film I Vast Trollhättan
Pandora Film Köln
CounterNarrative Films New York

Alejandro Landes

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, he grew up in Ecuador and Colombia. His documentary Cocalero screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in over 20 countries. His debut feature film Porfirio premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2011 and went on to screen and win prizes at many international film festivals.

Filmography

2007 Cocalero; documentary 2011 Porfirio

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019