The Strategy of the Snail

A hilarious comedy based on true events, the film follows the residents of a tenement building as they resist eviction. Poor families forced to confront a brutal and dim-witted authority stand little chance of winning, yet they preserve their hope and dignity to the very end. Flirting with absurdity, gently surreal and yet grounded in realism, the film remains a strikingly relevant metaphor for societies dominated by all-powerful elites, in Latin America and beyond. At the same time, The Strategy of the Snail remains, to this day, the best-known Colombian film, both at home and abroad. One could say that Cabrera’s comedy-drama became for cinema what One Hundred Years of Solitude is for literature: a perfect, timeless portrait of the spirit of a country too complex and conflict-ridden to be contained within rational frameworks. The old townhouse in Bogotá might well be called Macondo.

Piotr Kobus

Sergio Cabrera (b. 1950) – Colombian director, screenwriter, and producer, one of the most important figures of Latin American cinema. His films address social themes, focusing on everyday struggles for survival. Combining sharp observation with humor and empathy, he creates politically engaged yet accessible works rooted in local realities. His The Strategy of the Snail (1993) is widely regarded as one of the landmark achievements of Colombian cinema.

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