I Am No Longer Here

In the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico is the distinctive subculture cholombians, characterized by a passion for dancing to low-toned Colombian cumbia.

Ulises is the leader of the cholombian gang Los Terkos! and dominates the dance floor where his proud dancing garners much admiration. As a leader, he makes sure to be a role model and keep the group away from heavy crime. Even the local cartel respects and knows him as the younger brother of an imprisoned gang leader. When he is mistakenly thought to be cooperating with a competing cartel, he is forced to migrate to the United States. Fernando Frias’s prize-winning and strong tale about forced migration is liberating in its lack of gratitude. Ulises is instead driven by a pride of his own culture and a homesickness so powerful that he is ultimately deported.

• Maja Kekonius