Malqueridas, the documentary feature by Tana Gilbert, was the big winner at the 38th edition of Critics’ Week, the independent parallel section of the Venice Film Festival, receiving the Grand Prize for Best Film as well as the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution.
The debut feature by Gilbert, produced by Paola Castillo and Dirk Manthey, tells the story of a group of women, who are mothers, and are prisoners serving long sentences in a correctional facility in Chile. Their children grow up far from them, but remain in their hearts. In prison, they find affection in other partners who share their situation. Mutual support among these women becomes a form of resistance and empowerment. Malqueridas constructs their stories through images captured by them with banned cell phones inside the prison, recovering the collective memory of an abandoned community.
The 38th edition of the Venice Critics’ Week took place August 30-September 9, 2023.
