Middle-aged and erratic, Oscar is a failed writer who has given up on life. Unemployed and living with family, he wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in his home country, where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist. However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance at redemption, if he doesn't screw it up first. In a performance marked by darkly comic pathos, first-time actor Ubeimar Rios stars in Simón Mesa Soto's Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner A POET, a raw and riotous farce about how good deeds are often met with the universe's idea of cruel and unusually poetic punishment.

"Anchored by writer-director Simón Mesa Soto's wry detail and Ubeimar Rios' brilliantly uneasy performance, A Poet uses the tortured artist archetype to craft a story that's as darkly funny as it is unexpectedly affecting." (Rotten Tomatoes)

"A comedy that’s frequently smart in its consideration of art, class, commerce and curdled ambition. But if poetry is about saying a lot in a little, then by the end of its two-hour runtime A Poet comes off more like funny but flabby prose." (Wall Street Journal)

Saturday, March 7
Doors 2:00 pm | Movie 2:30 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

A POET "Un poeta" (Simón Mesa Soto, 2025 123 mins / NR / Spanish w.EST) An aging poet finds purpose mentoring Yurlady, a talented teen, though exposing her to the poetry scene might be unwise. His own poetic pursuits led nowhere, leaving him a stereotypical obscure writer.