© Monte & Culebra
¨Pepe¨, the latest feature from Dominican director Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias is a bold outing that recounts the life and death of real-life hippopotamus Pepe in a wildly imaginative and stylistically exciting manner, covering a wide range of topics and concepts to explore themes surrounding colonialism, racism, exploitation and the feeling of being ¨othered.¨
Directed by: Nelson Carlos de Los Santos Arias
Year: 2024
Country: Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France
Length: 122 minutes
The film starts with a series of fragments that introduce the viewer to the events that inspired the film. Set against a white backdrop, we hear a distressed voice calling for Corporal Gonzalez, telling him they have a problem and asking how hippopotamus sound. Quickly, we move on to a sequence displaying a cartoon on television, animated by De Los Santos Arias’ team themselves, inspired by the children’s TV show ‘The Peter Potamus Show.’. On that same television, we notice a woman discussing the death of drug lord Pablo Escobar and the implications this has for Colombia, only for the viewer to be confronted with a light centering the screen, flashing, creating an uncomfortable strobe effect as we hear loud gunshots with each flicker. Here, De Los Santos Arias masterfully sets the tone of what’s to come in this abstract, largely nonchronological audiovisual documentary-fiction hybrid masterpiece.
¨Pepe¨ is divided into two parts. The first follows the eponymous hippopotamus, an animal native to Africa, as he is transported from his homeland, Sudwestafrika (now Namibia) to Pablo Escobar’s zoo in Colombia. Through a distorted and often surprisingly comedic voiceover in Afrikaans, the narrative presents Pepe, now deceased, in a disjointed manner—both stylistically and in the literal unfolding of events. This technique provides a voice to an animal that could not speak, allowing Pepe to articulate his experiences posthumously. The hippopotamus, unable to fully memorize or grasp certain concepts, speaks in a highly philosophical manner that encourages the audience to analyze the various themes discussed. The focus on Pepe’s forced displacement from his native lands to a foreign place opens up a conversation about its relation to the way humans have been and are still subject to the brutal effects of colonialism and exploitation. In the second part of the film, we follow the ¨human¨ side of what eventually led to Pepe’s demise, centering on fisherman Candelerjo, his findings of hippos in his village’s waters, and a jarring aftermath.
De Los Santos Arias’ level of artistry in “Pepe” is explosive. As the film’s producer, writer, scorer, editor, and sound designer, his creative authority is unmatched by most of his contemporaries, reminiscent of the authorship Radu Jude displays in his works. Using a variety of aspect ratios, color palettes, archival footage, and a unique structure, De Los Santos Arias employs a high level of abstraction and poeticism. the director’s approach presents a rebellion against conventional filmmaking norms to craft a unique style that perfectly aligns with the story he aims to tell. Nelson Carlos de Los Santos Arias’ style is both artistically commendable, inspiring, and makes “Pepe” an exhilarating cinematic experience.
¨Pepe¨ premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival as part of the festival’s main competition, where it is nominated for the prestigious Golden Bear award.
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