Girl Next Door

Director/producer Andrew Molina tells the true story of Japanese-born buisinessman Eishy Hayata, whose adventures eventually lead him to a spectular rise as an emerald czar in Columbia. Against a backdrop of mining politics, kidnappers, unions, violence, wheeling, dealing and massive corruption, the "emerald cowboy" eventually blasts his way to the top, and from the vantage point of modern day, tells his story. Using a sort of dramatic semi-documentary style, writer-director Andrew Molina interviews Hayata about his life, leading to an array of flashbacks incorporating rarely seen, beautifully photographed Colombian locations, such as mines and rural villages where the locals and key players all appear as themselves. Shot using various film stocks and processes to recreate authentic looks and moods for each depicted time and event, EMERALD COWBOY is an ambitious, unusual undertaking, financed largely by Hayata himself, whose connections provided hitherto unavailable access to Columbia's darker regions ...