A Poet // The BIFF 2025 Best Film
On January 9 at 19:00, we’ll once again screen Simón Mesa Soto’s A Poet, the BIFF Bloom Main Award-winning film, at the Uránia Cinema.
This fresh, sensitive, and heartfelt film, showcased in the 2nd BIFF Bloom section, tells the story of a burned-out poet and father who, through an unexpected encounter, rediscovers hope and the meaning of his work. Simón Mesa Soto’s fast-paced and gently humorous second feature explores new beginnings and setbacks with empathy, showing how sometimes the things that carry us forward appear in the most unexpected places.
Schedule
SCREENING INFO
2026-01-09 / 19:00
in Spanish / with Hungarian subtitles
► All other infos: https://urania-nf.hu/film/a-poet-a-ii-biff-fodijas-filmje
DESCRIPTION
Oscar is a university lecturer in Medellín. Once a promising poet, he has failed to live up to his early reputation and now finds himself creatively exhausted, drifting deeper into self-pity and self-destructive behaviour. He lives with his elderly mother and is increasingly estranged from his daughter, ex-wife, and friends. A chance encounter with the poems of his student Yurlady, who comes from a precarious background, gives Oscar a renewed sense of purpose as he sets out to mentor her - though the process unfolds in unexpected and troubling ways.
Following Amparo (2021), Simón Mesa Soto’s second feature shifts its focus to the figure of the father. Observed with sharp, understated humour, the film examines morally ambiguous choices without judgement or condescension. Its bittersweet tone articulates the tension between artistic autonomy and the demands of the creative industry, while constructing a precise portrait of a contemporary Latin American antihero. Marked by an unpredictable narrative and a brisk, controlled rhythm, the film premiered in the 2025 Cannes Un Certain Regard section, where it received the Jury Prize.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Simón Mesa Soto is a Colombian director, screenwriter and producer. He studied Audiovisual Communication at the University of Antioquia and later pursued a Master’s degree at the London Film School. His thesis film, Leidi, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2014. With his next short film, Mother, he was again selected in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival 2016. Both short films were widely screened at festivals around the world. Amparo, his first feature film, premiered at the Cannes Critics’ Week 2021, where it won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for its lead actress. The film has toured more than fifty film festivals around the world and has won awards in Havana, Chicago, Lima and Punta del Este, among other festivals. Amparo was the big winner of the Colombian Film Academy’s Macondo Awards 2022, winning seven awards including Best Director and Best Film.
Selected filmography:
Leidi (2014) - short
Madre (2016) - short
Amparo (2021)
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Cannes Film Festival 2025 - Un Certain Regard
CREDITS
2025 / Colombia- Germany- Sweden
Original title: Un Poet
Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Cast: Ubeimar Rios, Rebeca Andrade, Guillerma Cardona, Allison Correa, Margarita Soto, Humberto Restrepo
Cinematography: Juan Sarmiento G.
Screenwriter: Simón Mesa Soto
Producer: Juan Sarmiento G., Manuel Ruiz Montealegre, Simón Mesa Soto
Editor: Ricardo Saraiva
Music: Matti Bye & Trio Ramberget
Hungarian Distributor: -
Colour: colour
Run Time: 123 mins
MORE INFO
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36544524/
letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/a-poet/
Uránia Nemzeti Filmszínház
The Uránia National Film Theatre is unique among Hungarian cinemas as it is the only national film and cultural centre operating as an institute It is the film profession’s counterpart of the National Theatre and the Opera House, of which most important task is to present and show the treasures of contemporary and classical film art as well as organising film clubs, national and international film festivals, and other events (first nights).