Anhell69

In this stunning first feature, Colombian director Theo Montoya combines documentary, narrative, and essay to create a “ghost” film–one that is haunted by his failed attempt to make a dystopian B-movie a decade before, death, and the hell of living in a repressive society–that becomes a catharsis, finding strength in art and a chosen community. Montoya reflects on his unmade “Anhell69,” the loss of many friends, including the intended lead of his earlier project, due to drugs and suicide, and the impossible situation of being queer in Colombia. Decade-old audition footage brings to life again those gone–haunting the screen with their presence as Montoya reflects on their importance to him. Newly shot fragments of the film-he-would-have-made feature stark, mysterious landscapes and interiors inhabited by red-eyed phantoms. And Montoya’s own narration is presented as being from beyond, as a recurring car is revealed to be the director’s own “funeral” procession. By crossing multiple genres, time frames, and emotional registers, ANHELL69 powerfully explores the dreams, doubts, and fears of an annihilated generation, but holds out a small hope that all is not lost.