Sandra Melissa Torres was born in Colombia in 1990. At a very young age, she moved to the Medellín area with her family, fleeing the violence in her home town. A mother of two, Sandra worked at all sorts of jobs until she found some stability as a shop assistant. One day, while attending a parents’ meeting at school, she is approached by a young film-maker who is looking for a woman in her thirties to play the role of Amparo. Although the idea of being an actress had perhaps crossed her mind while watching television as a teenager, she had never seriously considered it, given the social context in which she grew up. Nevertheless, the role was an obvious one and she worked hard to convince the directors that she could play Amparo. After shooting the film, Sandra went back to work. She now wants to study acting.
Sandra Melissa Torres was awarded the Louis Roederer Foundation Revelation Prize at the 60th Critics’ Week in Cannes for her role in Amparo, directed by Simón Mesa Soto and presented as a world premiere at Critics’ Week.
The film is set in Colombia in 1998. Amparo, a single mother, struggles to rescue her teenage son who has been conscripted and sent to the war zone. She is thrown into a race against time in a society where men, corruption and violence prevail.
© Amparo
© Amparo