Á Colombia (2006)

Best friends Dunkin and Jay have little to live for in Los Angeles. Dunkin is tired of the monotony of his aimless existence and is suffering from a chronic stomach disease. Jay has just been dumped by his fiancé. With nothing else to anticipate at home but the next cocaine-induced high, Dunkin and Jay journey on a whim to exotic Colombia. In Colombia, Dunkin and Jay find a people and terrain more beautiful than they had imagined. They discover new friendships and loves. The peace that Colombia offers, however, is constantly threatened by the troubles they've carried with them-namely, addiction and an unwillingness to confront their own problems. Their self-defeating behavior lands an innocent friend in jail, and Dunkin risks both his friendship with Jay and his developing romance with the kind-hearted Angelica as he lets himself spiral out of control. Based on a true story, Ryan Byrne's evocative first feature film follows the two friends as they attempt to escape their troubled lives in a different land. Beautiful in its portrayal of unexpectedly discovered peace and unnerving in its depiction of addiction and personal pain, á Colombia pits the transformative power of love against the debilitating power of the inner demons we try to ignore. At once tragic and hopeful, á Colombia explores what makes us want to run, what compels us to stay and, ultimately, what keeps us from moving in the direction we want to go.