Roa

Roa is a Colombian feature film released in 2013 directed by Andrés Baiz. It is a fictionalized account inspired by the final days in the life of Juan Roa Sierra, the man who was blamed for the 1948 assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, the charismatic liberal candidate for president. The film depicts Roa as an inept and naive pawn who was threatened and manipulated by powerful, shadowy figures into becoming the scapegoat for the assassination. Plot Roa is unemployed and struggling to support his wife and daughter. His brother tries to teach him to drive a taxi, but Roa ends up causing an accident. At the movie theater, Roa and his family watch a newsreel in which Roa is shown at a rally standing behind Gaitán. Roa has a brief encounter with Gaitán, who gives Roa a business card. Roa becomes obsessed with Gaitán and follows him, watching through a window as Gaitan eats dinner with his family, asking questions of people outside Gaitán's law office, and imitating Gaitan's speeches in the streets. Roa dresses in his best suit of clothes and receives a blessing from his mother before going to Gaitan's office where he asks for help. Gaitán says he is not able to help and turns Roa away.