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  • The Emeralds (2022)
  • Documentary
Primary photo for The Emeralds
The Emeralds (2022)
Documentary
Josefina Espinosa is a sharp and tiny old lady who spends her days dragging a ball-bearing cart that she calls "Husband". Always well dressed and colorful, she misleads in the distance by her groomed fair hair and her youthful look. Still,...See moreJosefina Espinosa is a sharp and tiny old lady who spends her days dragging a ball-bearing cart that she calls "Husband". Always well dressed and colorful, she misleads in the distance by her groomed fair hair and her youthful look. Still, her bow legs and her slow step betray her. At 79 years old, she walks around the streets of Bogotá in search of "Emeralds," recyclable materials hidden like gems inside garbage bags. And even if she finds it funny and gives them such a prestigious name, the truth is that at the end of the day she exchanges them for only eight cents per kilogram. Therefore, she is hardly ever able to ensure enough money to pay her rent and remains perpetually in debt with her landlady. But this does not worry her; for Josefina, not asking for anything from anyone is more than enough to live in peace. It has been more than 30 years that she spends most of her days outside, waiting patiently for the rain to stop while sitting under "little caves", or cornices. And, even though she has not found any rest after leaving her homeland, she remains optimistic and lighthearted. She finds happiness feeling independent and being under the naked sky, snooping around ladies' gardens, figuring out the strangest shapes in flowers or imagining the thoughts of insects. Josefina carries herself like nobody else in the middle of one of the most hostile universes in Bogotá. Lacking as she seems, she treasures the most precious of in Bogotá. Lacking as she seems, she treasures the most precious of all gems: she is free, even though she must pay a heavy price for it. However, Emeralds are getting rarer these days. Or maybe, younger and stronger peers are taking the lead, carrying enormous chariots throughout the city during day and night. Golden days, when Josefina used to walk briskly with her chariot and her dog, are gone. Years are getting heavy and also is her body: cataracts, an allergy to the sun, one lazy arm after a car accident, and that constant pain under her "toe pads" that no doctor has been able to diagnose. Maybe the time has come to retire and lean out into the past. It looks like this time Josefina found a genuine Emerald, a real chance to finally fulfill her dream and get back to her homeland in the mountains, 400 kilometers from Bogotá. Anyway, leaving everything behind feels like the greatest abyss: to look back, to give explanations, and submit herself to her family opinions. Will Josefina dear to face her fears and leave behind her day-to-day life? Sometimes fate calls on us for things that seem impossible. Written by oliver-olivo See less
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Director
Natalia Gualy
Writer
Natalia Gualy
Cinematographer
Hanz Rippe
Editor
Gabriel Baudet
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Release date
Aug 1, 2022 (Colombia)

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