DOCUMENTARY - CALI’S CUENTEROS

While children slide along the street slide beside the San Antonio Chapel, the adults gather in the small amphitheater nearby to listen to cuentos. This oral tradition has flowed through Cali for generations, and it is here that Caleños come together to share laughter, leaning into the voices of the cuenteros.

When cuentero Jaider Rengifo recalls the struggle of eating powdered milk mixed with brown sugar, a ripple of laughter moves through the crowd. It is this intimacy; these simple, recognizable moments woven into the stories, that draws the people of Cali to sit side by side, even on the roots of old trees, and to remember that their stories are shared. In this space, the beauty of Cali lives not only in its hills and colors, but in the collective memory spoken aloud.