Directors’ Fortnight, the parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival unveiled the lineup for its 53rd edition this morning, announcing the 24 features that will participate in the program, with plenty of Latin American representation from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.
Three Latin American feature films will have its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section: the Costa Rican film Clara Sola by Nathalie Álvarez Mesen, the Uruguayan film The Employer and the Employee / El empleador y el empleado by Manuel Nieto Zas, and the Brazilian film Medusa by Anita Rocha da Silveira.
Álvarez Mesen’s debut feature tells the story of Clara, 40, is believed to have a special connection to God. As a "healer", she sustains a family and a village in need of hope, while she finds solace in her relationship with the natural world. After years of being controlled by her mother's repressive care, Clara's sexual desires are stirred by her attraction to her niece's new boyfriend. This newly awakened force takes Clara to unexplored territory, allowing her to cross boundaries, both physical and mystical. Empowered by her self-discovery, Clara gradually frees herself from her role as "saint" and begins to heal herself.
In Nieto Zas’s third film (The Dog Pound, The Militant) The employer is a young man from a middle-class family; he leads a modern life and doesn’t fit in with the traditional stereotype of rural producer. But he has one pressing concern: his baby’s health. The employee is even younger than him and is in urgent need of his own job so that he can support his new family. Tragedy occurs: the employee’s baby dies in an accident in the tractor. A film about the relationship between two young men and about the convoluted relationship of both with happiness, freedom and work.
Paralleling the story of the beautiful Medusa, who was severely punished by Athena, the virgin goddess, for the loss of her purity, Rocha Silveira’s second feature film after Kill Me Please, follows Mariana, who belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. In order not to fall into temptation, she tries hard to control everything and everyone around her. However, the day will come when the urge to scream will be stronger than it ever has been.
Two short films directed by Argentine filmmakers will also participate in the Directors’ Fortnight section: El The Sidereal Space by Espacio sideral by Sebastián Schjaer, and Sycorax by Matías Piñeiro, co-directed with Lois Patiño from Spain. Additionally, U.S. Latinx director Eddie Alcazar, will also participate in the French festival with his short film The Vandal.
The 53rd edition of the Directors’ Fortnight will take place July 7-17 in Cannes, France.
