The Kings of the World is Colombian director Laura Mora’s second feature film and a film about having or not having a safe place in the world. It takes place in the bustling city of Medellin, the second largest city in Colombia, and follows the 19 year-old Ra (Carlos Andres Castaneda), who lives and hustles in the streets. When he gets a letter from the government that certifies his right to an inheritance of land that was taken from his family several years ago by paramilitary groups, the hope that he might have a place of his own is ignited.
“I have been very curious about the street boys and street culture, since I was very young,” says Laura Mora in a Zoom interview on The Kings of the World. “I was always hanging out with them and interested in their culture in a city that was very divided socially. These young men always fascinated me, because they are victims, who are also capable of being killers. I was always amazed by this amazing contradiction.”
Ra, who has been separated from his family since the displacement, is living in the streets by himself. Here, in the streets of Medellin, he has created a bond with fellow street boys, who function as his support system. Sere (Davison Florez), Nano (Brahian Acevedo), Winny (Cristian Campana), and Culebro (Cristian David) are all excited by the prospects of creating a home for themselves and they all decide to follow Ra on his more than 350 kilometer trip from the city to rural Columbia to reclaim the land that was stolen from his family. The film follows the five street kids as they undertake the dangerous road journey on their bikes to follow their dreams of having a safe place in the world.
“Our main conflicts have to do with the land because a lot of people have been displaced from their land,” explains Laura Mora about the history of Colombia. “Because of the richness of the land a lot of paramilitary groups that have worked either with mafia lords or the big industries have pushed people away from their land in a violent way and have taken control of the land. Columbia thus has the largest amount of migrants, of displacements on the planet.”