Valentina Maurel’s acclaimed debut feature I Have Electric Dreams / Tengo sueños eléctricos has been announced as Costa Rica’s official candidate for the Academy Awards best international feature.
The award-winning debut feature by writer-director Maurel focuses on Eva, a 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister, and their cat, but who wants to move in with her estranged father. Clinging onto him, she seeks balance between the tenderness and rebellion of teenage life. Bathed in richly textured imagery and soaked in raw sensitivity, the film captures the thin line between love and hate, in a world where aggression and rage are intertwined with the vertigo of female sexual awakening.
I Have Electric Dreams had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won three of the top prizes: for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The film was also the winner of the Best Latin American Film at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
I Have Electric Dreams becomes the 12th Oscar submission from the Central American country since Esteban Ramírez’s Caribe was selected in 2005 as the first Costa Rican contender.
