Chocó

Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza : 2012

Chocó is twenty-seven years old, she has two children, a tiny riverside wooden hut on the edge of a Colombian village, and an underpaid job in a gold mine. Her husband Everlides gambles away the little money they have and forces himself onto Chocó at night when he's had too much to drink. Nonetheless she truly believes that things will get better. But then she loses her job, while her daughter wants her birthday cake and Everlides spends the last of their savings. Chocó finds herself standing in the village shop, looking at the colourful cakes on the counter. You won't get anything for nothing here, the shopkeeper reminds her. If you want a cake, I want you. Stifled by her husband and a tradition based on male domination, Chocó's story exemplifies the lives of many women who suffer mistreatment and domestic violence, where such behaviour and abuse is seen by society as normal. Producer and screenwriter Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza's directorial debut premiered at Berlin International Film Festival 2012.