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By Emmanuel Espinal, John Carrero,
and Nelson Santana
January 19, 2018
This past Wednesday, January 17, the star-studded cast of the latest Dominican film, Colao, came out to shine at the Symphony Space performing arts center, launching the start of the film’s tour throughout United States theaters. The previous evening at 809 Sangría Bar & Grill, most of the film’s primordial cast met with members of the press. Among the luminaries present were the renowned comedian Raymond Pozo, the beautiful Celines Toribio, respected actor Manny Pérez, reggaeton artist Arcangel «La Maravilla» (The Wonder) and the multifaceted Frank Perozo, who makes his directorial debut.
Visionaries such as Armando Guareño, founder of the Dominican Film Festival in New York, have laid the groundwork for films such as Colao to reach audiences in New York. Guareño initiated the evening's conversation.
“An excellent script that tells a very humane story. A story that burns within the veins.”
Within the Q&A session the essence of the film was briefly stated as well as the importance of the film in regard to the growth of Dominican cinema. Zumaya Cordero, general director of Caribbean Cinemas and producer of Colao noted that more than 300,000 people have seen the film, which also has been the top-grossing film for two consecutive weeks at the box-office in Aruba. Cordero also said, “Colao is the film with the greatest international marketing in our industry.”
Director Frank Perezo said, this is “an excellent script that tells a very humane story. A story that burns within the veins. One does not want to stop reading the script because you want to know what the result will be and I think that this transmitted to the screen.”
Moviegoers will be able to enjoy the film in theaters throughout the eastern coast.
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A synopsis of the film:
Manny Pérez plays Antonio, a campesino who upon devoting years of his life to the harvesting of coffee, decides to one day abandon this lifestyle in pursuit of independence. He stays with his cousins Rafael and Felipe—played by renowned comedians Raymond Pozo and Miguel Céspedes—who show him how to maneuver the metropolis. Through his odyssey, Antonio meets the empowered, beautiful, and sophisticated Laura (Nashla Bogaert), who captures Antonio’s attention the moment he lays his eyes on her.
“Visionaries such as Armando Guareño, founder of the Dominican Film Festival in New York, have laid the groundwork for films such as Colao to reach audiences in New York.”
Colao’s soundtrack encompasses songs from different musical genres and a diverse group of artists. The soundtrack includes songs from reggaeton artist Arcangel, bachata group Aventura, urban artist El Nene la Amenazzy, merenguero Sergio Vargas, singer Gabriel and merengue típico artist Yovanny Polanco. As Cordero noted, “The music played a leading role.”
The Dominican film industry continues to bear fruit. Another international artist that is joining the Dominican film industry—like Arcangel and El Nene La Amenazzy in Colao—is Ozuna, who was recently signed to the Caribbean Cinemas catalog and will be in his first film soon. On his Instagram account he said “I can only say that God blesses. It was a pleasure to work with you on the Big screen. Thank you!”
Colao is playing or will be playing in theaters in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Aruba, St. Croix, Panama, and the United States.