A MALE

A Dickensian story that effortlessly queers the gangland coming-of-age film, takes us to the heart of Bogotá, in a youth shelter where teenage Carlos spends his everyday life. It's Christmas and he longs to spend the day with his family. As he leaves the shelter for the holidays, Carlos is confronted with the brutality of his neighborhood, ruled by the law of the strongest, the alpha male. He must prove he can be one of them, while deep inside, these expressions of masculinity clash with the decisions he must make in order to survive. A rite of passage that reveals the vulnerability, the latent restlessness for that desired masculinity that hides the fear of something much deeper in a man's psyche, ultimately deconstructing the ready-made, toxic stereotypes dominating human existence and social behavior. A film inspired by actual events from the filmmaker’s own personal experiences growing up in a patriarchal society with its machismo and in the company of “real men.“