“Exhilarating, tense, personal, and enigmatic, BARRIO TRISTE is a compelling look at a lost generation in search of salvation, and among this year’s best first features.” - The Film Stage
"[T]errifying and magical—as if Spielberg channeled Gabriel García Márquez. Backed by an entrancing score composed by Arca, BARRIO TRISTE is a marvelous case of purposeful style gladly overcoming the routine in these kinds of coming-of-age stories." - Guillermo Lopez Meza, Film-Forward.com
"A nightmarish odyssey into the depths of poverty and despair from Colombian-American director and photographer Stillz. [T]he director’s commitment to a realistic aesthetic never falters." - Jourdain Searles, RogerEbert.com
Opens July 17 | In an impoverished neighborhood of 1980s Medellín, a group of disaffected teens steals a TV reporter’s camera to document their lives. Piercing the derelict landscape’s oppressive atmosphere with disarming reflections on dreams and death, their understanding of reality and hope begins to erode as reports of mysterious lights falling from the sky coincide with temporal and spatial distortions. The feature debut from Bad Bunny collaborator STILLZ BARRIO TRISTE is a generational portrait of Colombia’s forgotten youth, both personal and specific in its perspective, yet unclassifiable in its formal audacity. Accentuated by the intense, shape-shifting sonic palette of Arca’s first ever movie score, the film boldly navigates the liminal spaces between despair and transcendence in what is surely one of the year’s most striking debut features. Opens exclusively at the Siskel Film Center.
Awards & Nominations
2025 Venice Film Festival - Official Selection
2025 Toronto Int. Film Festival - Official Selection
2025 New York Film Festival - Official Selection
2025 Beyond Fest LA - Official Selection
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu