AFI Latin American Film Festival 2009

Andrés Parra won the Best Actor prize at this year’s Guadalajara Film Festival for his portrayal of an energetic young priest, Father Gabriel, who tries to make a difference in the lives of the poor parishioners of his tiny mountain village in the Colombian jungle. In this remote and inhospitable locale, pragmatism trumps tradition when Gabriel tries to engage both sides of the ongoing civil war, the army and the FARC guerillas, as they pass through his village. And devoted as he is to his spiritual callings, he gladly gives in to the desires of the flesh with the comely Silvia (Maria Cecilia Sanchez). Despite Gabriel’s efforts to do good, he discovers that there are those in this world who prefer that he fail, and will make him pay for his beliefs.