Release
Directed by Óscar Gilberto Vesga Pérez;
Colombia · 2025 · 15 min · Country Life; Culture; Death; Disability; Disease; Ecology; Economical crisis; Environmental; Old Age; Social issues; Solidarity;
Submitted to RTV International Film Festival 2026Synopsis
At 87, his body weary, Fermín, an old fisherman, embarks on one final escape from the refuge where his days fade away. His destination is the water: he must return to the shore to fulfill a promise made to the river before time runs out.
About the film
Fermín (87), a former fisherman with limited mobility, lives in a nursing home in a small rural town. Convinced that his life cannot end before he fulfills a promise he once made to the river, he resolves to escape. With the help of Martina (7), the cook's spirited daughter, the two devise a plan to flee. The nursing home is chaotic and on the brink of financial collapse, making Fermín's escape almost impossible to conceal. Yet Martina chooses to leave with him. They hitch a ride on a truck descending the Andes. Through the passenger-side window, Fermín catches fleeting visions of people practicing forgotten trades and ancestral knowledge that are slowly disappearing from the region. Through the driver's window, another landscape unfolds: one transformed by real estate speculation and tourism, where new economic and cultural forces are redefining the territory. When they finally reach the river, Fermín fulfills his promise. With his final breath, he returns to the waters that once nourished him and spared his life. There, he reunites with his ancestors. Martina witnesses his passage as he becomes part of the invisible, mysterious world that flows through the river and inhabits the land.
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RTV International Film Festival — Inaugural Online Edition · 2026