In northern Colombia, a group of queer activists use their extravagance to denounce the disastrous exploitation of the largest coal mine in Colombia through performative actions.
Flores del otro patio is a film-manifesto that illustrates the connection between queerness and nature, as well as how empowerment and reclaiming one’s identity can be fertile tools in rescuing a nature plundered by the exploits of capitalism. In a Colombia of stolen native land, captive resources, and indigenous emigration from exploited areas, an act of reclamation is attempted through the practice of flamboyant protest, through a baroque exuberance that generates surprise and anguish. Queer subjectivity is marginal and precarious in the face of systemic forces, but what it finds strength in is the vital impulse of partying and mutual love. If the macho men in power, intoxicated by the neoliberal dream, cannot change the trajectory of a space with uncultivable land and polluted waters, it is the queer indigenous people who must do so, through radical presence. (Emilian Lungu)
After studying photography in Buenos Aires, Jorge Cadena obtained a BA in cinema at HEAD – Geneva, graduating with El Cuento de Antonia, which won the IFFR Tiger Award. He then completed his MA at ECAL/HEAD with The Jarariju Sisters, which was awarded at Berlinale. An alumnus of EFP Future Frames, TIFF Lab, and Berlinale Talents, he is currently working on his first feature film.