PEPE

Pepe is a hippopotamus. He was brought from Africa to Colombia, into the private zoo of the drug lord Pablo Escobar, and after his death the animals escaped into the wild along the Río Magdalena. Years later, Pepe becomes the first hippopotamus to be shot dead on the American continent. From beyond the grave he tells his own story – of abduction, of freedom in a foreign river, and of the humans who hunt him – raising questions of language, place, consciousness and the relationship between life and death. “Pepe” by the Dominican director Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias (Dominican Republic/Namibia/Germany/France, 2024) gives voice to an animal that owes humankind nothing.

De los Santos Arias tells his story in shifting languages, formats and visual worlds, moving between documentary, fable and essay. The film premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2024 and won the Silver Bear for Best Director – the first Latin American film ever to do so. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2024, in the Berlinale Spotlight WCF section.

Shown at the 2024 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

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