Manuel Kinzer and Jorge A. Trujillo Gill | Darío / 2018

darío the dancer

by Douglas Messerli

 

Manuel Kinzer and Jorge A. Trujillo Gill (screenwriters and directors) Darío / 2018 [15 minutes]

 

Darío, by Columbian directors Manuel Kinzer and Jorge A. Trujillo Gill really isn’t much of a movie when comes to plot. The 17-year-old boy, Darío (Javier Alberto Bula García) from Barranquilla (a seaport city flanked by the Magdalena River, known for its carnival festivities) simply loves to dance and is delighted to be an important part of the upcoming carnival activities.

    Yet his hard-working mother (Norelis Nieves Cardona) demands that, like his elder brother and she, he help support the family, insisting that each day he work at his uncle’s small food shop.

     Given the demands on the young boy of school, work, and dance, he arrives late to both work and his dance routines, and doesn’t return home until late, his mother furious that he has missed the evening meal. Even more important she is afraid of what his dancing might mean.

   While the others boys play soccer Darío practices his elaborate maneuvers with the other dancers, mostly female, watched carefully by another cute young boy (Jean Carlos Calderón), and to whom it is quite apparent that Darío is attracted.

    In short, her son is already what she is determined to he will not become, banning him from any further dance rehearsals.

    It is inevitable that Darío finally realizes that he needs to resist her demands; and when he doesn’t even show up to his uncle’s shop the mother grows furious. While attempting to reach him by cellphone, his brother notices that the carnival parade has begun and that Darío, dressed in an orange costume topped by a glorious orange headdress, she rushes from the store to the street where the parade is gathering, attempting to find and prevent her son from participating.

    She doesn’t find him in time, and when he finally goes strutting with his other dance members down the street, a wide smile of delight on his face, and glimmer of pride and love focused on the young boy who is watching and applauding his performance, all is too late. He has taken on his role, at least for the moment, of his young life, refusing to be shuffled off into the corner of poverty’s neglected children. For a moment, at least, he is a member of one of the ancient indigenous tribes (Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona) celebrating his existence.

 

Los Angeles, January 31, 2026

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (January 2026).