La vendedora de rosas (The Rose Seller) is a 1998 Colombian film directed by Víctor Gaviria, who also co-wrote the script. The film is loosely based on the 1845 fairy tale "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen; it was entered into the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film is notable for young children who never acted before, but lived on the streets of Medellin, Colombia, to portray the characters. It follows a young girl named Andrea (Mileider Gil), who after a fight with her mother, flees to stay with her best friend Monica (Leidy Tabares), an orphaned rose seller. While Andrea works alongside Monica, she realizes street life is not as easy as she believed. Monica must evade capture from the local gang, ruled by Don Hector (Elkin Rodriguez).

Plot

At Christmas time in Medellín, impoverished girl Andrea flees from her home after a beating from her mother and looks for Mónica, a rose seller who also fled her family after her grandmother died. In Barrio Triste, a poor and dangerous neighborhood, Mónica leads a group of friends who are immersed in a life of drug use and prostitution. The group is composed of Diana, known as Cachetona; Judy, who prostitutes herself; and Claudia, who also sells roses. They live in a hostel for low-income individuals. The city is celebrating the Novena of aguinaldos.