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Cast:
Natalia Oreiro, Àlex Brendemühl, Diego Peretti, Florencia Bado
Production:
Historias Cinematográficas, Pyramide Productions, Wanda Vision, HummelFilm, Stan Jakubowicz, Moviecity, Telefé
Program:
Studio Cinema -
Friday, April 11, 2014 - 20:00
Studio Cinema -
Saturday, April 12, 2014 - 16:00
Original title:
Wakolda
Section:
Written by:
Lucía Puenzo
Synopsis:
In 1960’s Patagonia, a German doctor and an Argentinian family’s paths intersect. A guest in Eva (Natalia Oreiro) and Enzo’s (Diego Peretti) hotel, the stranger quickly becomes fascinated by Lilith (Florencia Bado), the couple’s little girl. Aged 12, she looks more like a 9 year old child, which makes the perfection obsessed doctor take it upon himself to help the girl mature at all costs. His charisma, and also his money-upfront politic, ease her parents’ acceptance of him. In the end, they realize Lilith was the subject of a genetic experiment, and the German doctor was no other than one of the most ruthless criminals in history.
Director:
Lucía Puenzo is born in 1967 in Buenos Aires. A graduate of the University of Buenos Aires, then the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, she writes successful novels such as THE FISH CHILD, THE CURSE OF JACINTA PICHIMAHUIDA and WAKOLDA, which are translated in 15 languages. Her feature debut, XXY, brings her a Critics Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Best Spanish Language Foreign Film at the Goya Awards, while her second feature, THE FISH CHILD, is shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, section Panorama. She is the daughter of director Luis Puenzo.
Selected filmography:
- 2009 THE FISH CHILD / EL NIÑO PEZ
- 2007 XXY
Statement:
15 years after Victory Day, Eva and Enzo find out for themselves that the war is not over when the last cannon is put to rest. Aided by the lack of action, if not direct support by a number of South American states, several Nazi leaders manage to escape trial and conviction. When she finds herself in a tight spot, Eva too turns a blind eye, for the sake of her children. It won’t be long, however, until payment is due. An inconvenient film about the true nature of compromise. "A gently striking and achingly tense drama (…), the film could have played like a conspiracy thriller, but Puenzo favours subtle and slowly evolving drama, gradually revealing the darker and dangerous character of the seemingly genial German doctor," writes about the film Mark Adams in Screen Daily.
Festivals, awards:
- Havana Film Festival 2013: Best Director
- Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Argentina 2013: Best Film, Best Make-Up, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best New Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Director
- Cannes IFF 2013 (Un Certain Regard)
- Lima Film Festival 2013; Sarajevo Film Festival 2013
- Montréal World Film Festival 2013
- San Sebastián Film Festival 2013
- Oslo Films from the South Festival 2013
- Chicago IFF 2013; Palm Springs IFF 2014 etc.