La vendedora de rosas

La vendedora de rosas (The Rose Seller) is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Víctor Gaviria, who also co-wrote the script. The film is loosely based on the 1845 fairy tale "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen; it was entered into the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film is notable for young children who never acted before, but lived on the streets of Medellin, Colombia, to portray the characters. It follows a young girl named Andrea (Mileider Gil), who after a fight with her mother, flees to stay with her best friend Monica (Leidy Tabares), an orphaned rose seller. While Andrea works alongside Monica, she realizes street life is not as easy as she believed. Monica must evade capture from the local gang, ruled by Don Hector (Elkin Rodriguez).

Many of the actors that starred in the film are now dead or in prison. Giovanni Quiroz was murdered in Medellín and Leidy Tabares was incarcerated for her involvement in the murder of a taxi driver in Medellín. Elkin Giovanny Rodriguez (Don Hector in the film) and Alex Bedoya (Milton) have also died. Some of them are still alive but living in tough conditions, such as Mileider Gil, who went on to play a small role in “Rosario Tijeras”.