Son of Sodom

Camilo Najar was known on social media and in the Medellín queer scene as “Son of Sodom.” In 2017 he auditioned for the starring role in Theo Montoya’s upcoming film. On camera, he talks frankly about his life, his sexuality, his experimentation with drugs, and death—which he doesn’t fear. A week later, at the age of 21, he was dead from a heroin overdose.

Najar is far from the only young Colombian to have died at a young age as a result of his self-destructive impulses. A shockingly high number of young people commit suicide or die of drug overdoses. Montoya examines the no-future mentality of his generation in a freewheeling, punk style. The city of Medellín may have left its years of extreme violence behind, but Montoya is horrified to see that his generation is now killing itself. The city’s youth dance on the ruins of the past, and death seems to hold no fear for them. His city has become a cemetery. This dark and powerful work was selected for the short film competition at Cannes.