Colombian director Augusto Sandino’s evocative second feature A Vanishing Fog / Entre la niebla is heading stateside for its much-anticipated theatrical release. The film opens this Wednesday, April 23, at Laemmle Theaters in the Los Angeles area, followed by other cities, distributed by Hope Runs High Films.
A visually exquisite social parable—with echoes of Buñuel and Jodorowsky—and the first feature film to be shot in the mysterious and formidable Páramo of Sumapaz, the largest swath of alpine moorland in the world, A Vanishing Fog draws on longstanding Latin American traditions of cinematic surrealism and innovative applications of science fiction to tell the story of F, a solitary explorer and guardian of the mountains. Condemned by fate, F strives to protect the mystical and fragile ecosystem he inhabits while caring for his ailing father.
Facing the imminent return of an unnamed social and ecological violence, F—played by emblematic newcomer Sebastián Pii in his commanding cinematic debut—yearns to overcome his human limitations and plan his escape, knowing all too well that leaving will mean a heartrending goodbye to the only world he has ever known. Tragically, Pii (née Jhon Sebastian Castillo Piñeros) passed away last December, leaving behind a haunting and unforgettable performance that now serves as both a debut and a farewell.
An oblique portal into a surreal and sacred landscape—at once otherworldly and vulnerable to industrial society’s destructive tendencies—A Vanishing Fog invites audiences to immerse themselves in a sensorial experience where images and sounds converge to reflect on Colombia’s pained histories of human and environmental rights abuses with cinematic precision, sensitivity, and boldness.
With breathtaking cinematography by Gio Park in his first feature-length credit, and almost no dialogue aside from select phrases in the fictional indigenous language Sunapakún, Sandino constructs a singular portrait that speaks to the plight of Indigenous peoples on a global scale. By removing the language of the oppressors and placing viewers within an abstract yet intimate vision of what has become of his country, A Vanishing Fog allows the emotional experience of environmental extraction to resonate on a deeply human level.
A deeply personal film—perhaps a song or a poem caught between past and future, sanity and delirium, or bliss and tragedy—A Vanishing Fog positions Sandino as a filmmaker to watch on the international festival circuit, masterfully blending sci-fi, arthouse, and genre elements.
Watch the trailer:
