Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future
The Sundance Film Festival has just unveiled the titles for its 2022 edition, which includes some titles directed by Latinx and Latin American filmmakers from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the United States participating in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the World Cinema Documentary Competition, the Next competition, and the Premieres section of the festival, taking place January 20-30.
Four Latin American films in their world premiere are participating in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, featuring ten emerging filmmaking talents around the world that offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles: Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future / La vaca que cantó una canción sobre el futuro from Chile, Dos Estaciones by Juan Pablo González from Mexico, Mars One / Marte Um by Gabriel Martins from Brazil, and Utama by Alejandro Loayza Grisi from Bolivia.
Starring Leonor Varela, Mia Maestro, and Alfredo Castro, Alegría’s debut feature The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future tells the story of Cecilia, who travels with her children to her aging father’s dairy farm after he has a heart attack. Back in her childhood home, Cecilia is met by her mother, a woman dead for many years, whose presence brings to life a painful past chorused by the natural world around them.
Set in the bucolic hills of Mexico’s Jalisco highlands and starring Teresa Sánchez, Tatín Vera, Rafaela Fuentes, Manuel García-Rulfo, González’s Dos Estaciones follows iron-willed businesswoman Maria Garcia who fights the impending collapse of her tequila factory. Martins’ Mars One tells the story of a Brazilian lower-middle-class Black family of four tries to keep their spirits up and their dreams going in the months that follow the election of a right-wing president, a man who represents everything they are not.
Set In the Bolivian highlands, Utama tells the story of an elderly Quechua couple has been living the same daily life for years. When an uncommon long drought threatens their entire way of life, Virginio and his wife Sisa face the dilemma of resisting or being defeated by the environment and time itself.
The Brazilian film The Territory by Alex Pritz will have its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. When a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.
Isabel Castro’s debut documentary feature Mija will have its world premiere in the Next competition of the festival. The film follows Doris Muñoz, a young, ambitious music manager whose undocumented family depends on her ability to launch pop stars. When she loses her biggest client, Doris hustles to discover new talent and finds Jacks, another daughter of immigrants for whom “making it” isn’t just a dream: it’s a necessity.
And lastly, the documentary film La Guerra Civil by Eva Longoria will have its world premiere in the Premieres section of the festival. The epic rivalry between iconic boxers Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez in the 1990s sparked a cultural divide between Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans. A chronicle of a battle that was more than a boxing rivalry, and examines a fascinating slice of the Latino experience in the process.
