Rains over Babel premiered at Sundance 2025. A few days later, the film had it’s international premiere at IFFR where I had the chance to speak to Gala del Sol, who wrote and directed this amazing queer drama.

Imbued with magical realism, Rains over Babel takes us on a journey that evolves around Babel, a bar where a number characters meet La Flaca, played by Saray Nohemi Rebolledo Ospino. Here, the characters gamble years of their lives in an attempt to outsmart La Flaca. But that’s not the only plot line. Four narrative lines cross each other somehow, forming a mythical mosaic story that is camp, punk, romantic, dramatic, humorous and most importantly, keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat for the whole ride. As Gala says herself in the interview ‘It’s a very weird film and it’s a very queer film.’

Although it might seem so, Rains over Babel was never meant to be a film in the first place. When Gala returned to Columbia at the start of the pandemic, she was locked up for twenty days in her room. Via a friend, she began to hang out with young theatre actors over Zoom, which formed the beginning of the film. ‘Theatre actors are awesome, they have a lot of ideas and are overflowing with it. The energy of creation is so important and they contribute to this. It’s magical.’

At first, they were just conversations about the differences and similarities between theatre and film. As their discussions deepened, Gala introduced an exercise to explore character development. ‘I wanted my actors to create a character that would help them heal something in their life.’ During this exercise the characters of Jacob (William Hurtado), Uma (Celina Biurrun), Timbí (José Manuel Mojica), Monet (Johan Zapata) and El Boticario (Santiago Pineda Prago) came to life. ‘Through those characters we started to improvise scenes and after a while I discovered some interesting themes that I could cooperate in a film. So I locked myself up for 6 months and wrote the script.’ Eventually, Gala worked with her actors for over two years before they shot, which is something you can really feel by watching the film. By doing this, Gala created an environment were the characters became very truthful and believable.

Gala’s favourite character is La Flaca, the incarnation of Death. ‘When I started making the film, when I was 24, I had my first encounter with death and illness. I began wondering what would happen if I could bet years of my life against the personified version of death. La Flaca represents the death of my city, which was full of salsa dancers and life before the lockdown started. This is why La Flaca loves to salsa dance and loves to drink. She resents her job, which is why she relies on Dante to handle the dirty work. I wanted to show what wasn’t shown in Columbian cinema before, like African Colombian queer people. That’s why La Flaca is a beautiful African Columbian woman with a giant afro.’

With Rains over Babel, Gala wanted the film to feel closer related to a dream than real life. ‘I love magical and fantastic realism. Traditionally, Columbian cinema is very social and political, and I wanted to show something else. I’ve done theatre since I was four years old and I used to hang out with theatre people a lot. I really liked to see circus people in the street, like jugglers playing with fire or knives. This was so magical! So naturally, my work is a reflection of what I like.’ Rains over Babel gives a sense of redemption that leads to empowerment. In this universe, queer people are unbeatable, giving them the strength they deserve. 

Rains over Babel questions the idea of success. Society ties it to approval, but Gala sees that as a trap. ‘To me succes is closely related to peace and doing what you like. If you’re making films from a place of love, you’re going to find your audience as well. I actually wanted to be a nun when I was 16, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She wanted me to finish high school and to go to university in California. She asked me ‘Why lock yourself up when you can spread love through your films to a broad audience?’’

Gala worked with a lot of friends from college for Rains over Babel. People who she admires and who’s advice she values. Gala’s family produced the film as well. For example, her mother did the catering, her father figured out all of the transportation and they edited at her parents house in her brothers room by themselves. ‘It was so much more Indie than people think.’ When you watch the film you can really feel this energy and the chemistry between the crew making it. According to Gala ‘that’s what made the magic.’

The story of Rains over Babel comes form an honest and real place, which can be felt. Therefore, Rains over Babel is an absolute must-watch. As Gala says ‘I think that if the actors can heal because of their characters, then maybe someone watching can heal as well.’

Written by Fé Baan