PROGRAMMER’S PICK

A Golden Tiger at Rotterdam, a key talent-spotting festival, put this subtle yet penetrating Chilean debut on the cinephile map. Dominga Sotomayor Castillo displays keen purpose in this fusion of road movie and family drama, as the audience soon register that a 30-something-year-old couple are on the verge of a split while taking their two kids on probably the last weekend break they’ll have together.

The younger brother is all boyish enthusiasm and petulance, utterly unaware of what’s really going on, but his preteen sister (Santi Ahumada, a first-timer with thoughtful presence) is beginning to read the signals – and it’s heart-breaking to watch. It’s certainly not a film of raised voices and intemperate conflict, registering instead a slow drift towards enveloping anxiety, played out in spaces both intimate and desolate, from family tents and car seats to Chile’s scrubby hinterlands. The mood is sustained, every nuance skilfully pointed, suggesting that Lucretia Martel may soon have competition as South America’s leading female director. (Notes by Trevor Johnson.)

This screening will include the IFB-funded short film Flyboy by Kealan O’Rourke. (4 mins, Ireland, 2007.)

Note on Programmer’s Pick:
Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo’s debut feature shows a restrained and subtle approach to the material that indicates an impressive maturity for a filmmaker at the beginning her career. The story of a child’s growing awareness of her parents’ marital troubles, it’s a delicate and deeply moving piece that marks the filmmaker as a talent to watch.