February 3, 2026
FILM: A POET
DIRECTED BY: SIMON MESA SOTO
STARRING: UBEIMAR RIOS, REBECCA ANDRADE, GUILLERMO CARDONA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
When we first meet Oscar Restrepo we learn that he’s having money issues, he’s an alcoholic, his mother is sick, and his daughter will soon be heading to college. However, all he wants is to be one of Colombia’s greatest poets. Is that too much to ask? The film A Poet was written and directed by Simon Mesa Soto. Last year he won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for this film at the Cannes Film Festival. His films have been celebrated at other fests around the world including the Chicago International Film Festival. This new project is profound, moving, and deeply sad. Colombia submitted it for the Best International Film Oscar this year and though it didn’t get nominated, it’s definitely worth the honor.
Oscar is an interesting character with large glasses and big, uneven teeth which protrude near his lower lip. He’s not interested in doing anything other than composing poetry. The problem is that the family needs his financial help but he’s not willing to give up his artistic dream. The former university professor is now being encouraged to write more commercial work and to teach poetry in high school. With few other choices, Oscar agrees to the latter. Most of the students don’t seem that interested in writing anything serious except for one girl, Yurlady, who has already written a journal full of her own poetry. Oscar is immediately impressed with her work and decides to mentor her. However, she has priorities of her own: her family’s poor economic conditions and her other dream of working in a hair/nail salon. Oscar sees so much more potential in her due to her natural talent. He does everything he can for her and eventually gets her into a poetry school festival.
Oscar and Yurlady stand in sharp contrast to each other. She is the gifted writer while he just wants recognition for his work. He published a couple of volumes of poetry when he was considerably younger but none of that is selling. Yurlady could become the poet that Oscar has said Colombia has only had but one or two times in the past hundred years. She is more concerned about the basic necessities of life at this point. In time though, they will both grow and begin to see the world differently.
This could have simply been a story about a teacher that inspires a student but it goes much deeper than that. At the poetry festival things take a darker turn. A large portion of the film focuses on the responsibility Oscar has taken on with Yurlady and the various accusations that result. There’s bribery, finger pointing, and some highly distraught members of Yurlady’s family. The bottom line is how to define priorities for a young girl. Is it more important to be practical or artistically expressive? What comes first, a family or career? If one chooses the latter, might they be selling out for fame and recognition?
The film is a social commentary on class too. Is it possible to achieve financial and personal success when living in the lower levels of society? What happens to those artistic voices living in despair that don’t have the means to express themselves? Both Oscar and Yurlady must ultimately have to contend with these issues as, one might imagine, the entire country would.
While there are a number of sad plot turns throughout the film, there are a few moments of humor that bring a bit of relief. But this is ultimately a portrait of a culture and a few writers that struggle in the context of harsh economic conditions and the decisions and sacrifices they all have to make to survive.
A Poet is opening this week in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: A POET
DIRECTED BY: SIMON MESA SOTO
STARRING: UBEIMAR RIOS, REBECCA ANDRADE, GUILLERMO CARDONA
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
When we first meet Oscar Restrepo we learn that he’s having money issues, he’s an alcoholic, his mother is sick, and his daughter will soon be heading to college. However, all he wants is to be one of Colombia’s greatest poets. Is that too much to ask? The film A Poet was written and directed by Simon Mesa Soto. Last year he won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize for this film at the Cannes Film Festival. His films have been celebrated at other fests around the world including the Chicago International Film Festival. This new project is profound, moving, and deeply sad. Colombia submitted it for the Best International Film Oscar this year and though it didn’t get nominated, it’s definitely worth the honor.
Oscar is an interesting character with large glasses and big, uneven teeth which protrude near his lower lip. He’s not interested in doing anything other than composing poetry. The problem is that the family needs his financial help but he’s not willing to give up his artistic dream. The former university professor is now being encouraged to write more commercial work and to teach poetry in high school. With few other choices, Oscar agrees to the latter. Most of the students don’t seem that interested in writing anything serious except for one girl, Yurlady, who has already written a journal full of her own poetry. Oscar is immediately impressed with her work and decides to mentor her. However, she has priorities of her own: her family’s poor economic conditions and her other dream of working in a hair/nail salon. Oscar sees so much more potential in her due to her natural talent. He does everything he can for her and eventually gets her into a poetry school festival.
Oscar and Yurlady stand in sharp contrast to each other. She is the gifted writer while he just wants recognition for his work. He published a couple of volumes of poetry when he was considerably younger but none of that is selling. Yurlady could become the poet that Oscar has said Colombia has only had but one or two times in the past hundred years. She is more concerned about the basic necessities of life at this point. In time though, they will both grow and begin to see the world differently.
This could have simply been a story about a teacher that inspires a student but it goes much deeper than that. At the poetry festival things take a darker turn. A large portion of the film focuses on the responsibility Oscar has taken on with Yurlady and the various accusations that result. There’s bribery, finger pointing, and some highly distraught members of Yurlady’s family. The bottom line is how to define priorities for a young girl. Is it more important to be practical or artistically expressive? What comes first, a family or career? If one chooses the latter, might they be selling out for fame and recognition?
The film is a social commentary on class too. Is it possible to achieve financial and personal success when living in the lower levels of society? What happens to those artistic voices living in despair that don’t have the means to express themselves? Both Oscar and Yurlady must ultimately have to contend with these issues as, one might imagine, the entire country would.
While there are a number of sad plot turns throughout the film, there are a few moments of humor that bring a bit of relief. But this is ultimately a portrait of a culture and a few writers that struggle in the context of harsh economic conditions and the decisions and sacrifices they all have to make to survive.
A Poet is opening this week in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.