Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias Wins Silver Bear at 2024 Berlinale

CalArts alum and School of Film/Video special faculty Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias (Film/Video MFA 14) won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) on Feb. 24 for his feature film, Pepe.

Through a combination of genres and styles, the film follows Pepe, a hippopotamus brought to Colombia to reside in the private zoo of the notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar. Following Escobar’s demise, the creatures from his menagerie break free into the wilderness. Pepe, serving as the film’s narrator, vividly portrays his life experiences while contemplating profound philosophical notions surrounding language, place, consciousness, and life and death.

Carlos De Los Santos Arias talked to Variety about the film’s politically charged nature, stating, “Pepe the philosophizing hippo might sound peculiar, but his words carry deep political significance.”

Dominican director Carlos De Los Santos Arias developed Pepe while participating in the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin program. 

Check out the Berlinale press conference for Pepe with Carlos De Los Santos Arias on YouTube.