Carlitos 13 - Medellin

Carlitos is thirteen years old and lives in Santo Domingo, which is the most violent neighbourhood in the most violent city in Colombia, Medellin. The quartier is terrorised by a militia, a paramilitary organisation that is at war against the rebel army, FARC. This war has been tearing the country apart for years. In voice-over, Carlitos reads a letter he has written to The Holy Mary. He had the plan, he explains, to visit the inhabitants of Santo Domingo with a statue of the Virgin, so they can ask her for help and peace. But, in hindsight, it has not helped. The camera follows Carlitos, walking through Medellin, statue on his shoulder, on his way to visit typical citizens. The mother who has lost her sons, the wife who has lost her husband, the small boy who has lost his friends. They deliver emotional meditations to the smiling statue, about weapons, peace, retaliation and forgiveness. After each visit, Carlitos’s voice-over tells us what happens to them in subsequent weeks. One by one, they have fled, been taken prisoner or shot dead.