Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, the acclaimed debut by Mexican-Bolivian director Natalia López Gallardo, Robe of Gems / Manto de gemas, will have its US theatrical release starting Friday, September 15 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York City by the hand of distributor Monument Releasing.
Winner of the Best Director Award at the Morelia Film Festival, the film follows Isabel (Nailea Norvind), who in the midst of a silent divorce, leaves the city with her two children for her family's abandoned country house. She soon discovers that the sister of her housekeeper, María (Antonia Olivares), has gone missing. When Isabel offers her help, an unspoken pact to find the missing one is born between the two women. Meanwhile, Roberta (Aida Roa), the police commander in charge of the investigation, tries to get her son (Daniel García) out of the cartels. The countryside is mined with confusion and danger, but regardless of these circumstances, determination in the face of destiny subsists.
López Gallardo first made a name for herself as an editor for visionary Latin American directors such as Carlos Reygadas, Amat Escalante, and Lisandro Alonso. With Robe of Gems, she steps behind the camera for her mesmerizing feature debut, a disquieting crime drama. An enticingly cryptic and unflinchingly critical portrait of crime and solidarity across class lines, Robe of Gems announces Gallardo as a force to be reckoned with in contemporary cinema.
