The Real Monica
The film is based
on a true story.
Early 1996. A piece of news took the production of 'The Roses Seller', headed by Colombian filmmaker Víctor Gaviria, by surprise. Mónica Rodríguez, who had served as the film's inspiration and location guide, had been murdered on the streets of Medellín. Nobody could believe it; There were only a few weeks left before the start of the shooting of the new film by one of the favourite directors of the Cannes Film Festival, and the life that she would portray herself on the screen had been taken from her young owner.
Natural actors
Conceived by Gaviria, mixing the story of Mónica Rodríguez –a young woman living on the street whom she had met in a recovery institute– and the plot of the story 'The Little Match Girl' by Hans Christian Andersen, 'The Rose Seller' tried to portray the hopelessness that was lived in the poor areas of Medellín –one of the main cities of Colombia– during a festive season.
The director decided not to resort to professional actors or sets to achieve this. Instead, he had to achieve truthfulness with people who lived the same as his characters; immerse the viewer in the world that he wanted to present on the screen. With Rodríguez's support, the Colombian filmmaker famous for the film 'Rodrigo D. No Futuro' – in which he had also used a realistic tone – entered the lost colonies of Miramar with his team. He invited its inhabitants to participate in castings and approached the young people he found on the streets.
Putting Birds to Act
The Documental after the Movie
23 Years After The Roses Seller Produced and directed by Erwin Goggel, takes a look behind the scenes of this one of the most important films in Colombian cinematography to show how this powerful story was made with natural actors, who despite fame and recognition, acting was not managed to rescue everyone from the world of drugs and violence. Viewers will see what it was like to make this film, but mainly what happened to the lives of the survivors.
The process was long, beginning with compiling the material produced during the film's filming, remastering each documentary piece, and presenting unknown facets of all the characters. Knowing that reality was even harsher and more devastating than the movie itself. A journey through time, discovering what their characters meant to popular culture and how the lives of these children and the film crew took unexpected turns after The Rose Seller.