Once a promising young poet, Oscar Restrepo (Ubeimar Rios) is now an aging, bitter alcoholic who hasn’t written anything worthwhile in decades. Nearly destitute and barely tolerated by his own family, Oscar reluctantly takes a job teaching at a local high school where he meets Yurlady (Rebeca Andrade), a talented student with a gift for poetry herself. Inspired to take the young pupil under his wing and help her cultivate her art, Oscar begins to rediscover his purpose — but drawing Yurlady into the poetry world will not be not as simple as planned.
This year’s winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, A Poet is at once a wry character study, a biting social satire, and a timely meditation on the contradictions of making art within an inhospitable environment. Directed by rising Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto, the film shifts adroitly between scenes of melancholy lyricism and razor-sharp cringe comedy. As Oscar, first-time performer Rios anchors the film with a live-wire energy that is not soon forgotten.
Jury Prize: Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: Colombia
Community Partner
Ubeimar Rios, Rebeca Andrade, Guillermo Cardona, Allison Correa, Margarita Soto, Humberto Restrepo
Colombia/Germany/Sweden
2025
In Spanish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Juan Sarmiento G., Manuel Ruiz Montealegre, Simón Mesa Soto
Screenwriter
Simón Mesa Soto
Cinematography
Juan Sarmiento G.
Editor
Ricardo Saraiva
Original Music
Matti Bye & Trio Ramberget
Art Director
Camila Agudelo
Simón Mesa Soto
Simón Mesa Soto is a Colombian director, screenwriter, and producer. His short film, Leidi, won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2014, and his subsequent short, Mother, was again selected in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival 2016. Amparo (2021), his first feature film, premiered at Cannes Critics’ Week, where it won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for its lead actress. Amparo also won seven awards at the Colombian Film Academy’s Macondo Awards 2022, including Best Director and Best Film. Poet (2025) is Mesa Soto’s second feature film.
Filmography: Amparo (2021)
Photo by Carolina Garcia
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
