After a successful world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Jorge Thielen Armand’s debut feature La Soledad will receive its North American premiere at the 34th edition of the Miami International Film Festival, running March 3-12, competing in the HBO Ibero American Competition and the Film Festival’s Jordan Ressler Screenwriting Competition Film Category. The Venezuelan film will also have its Latin American premiere in the official fiction competition at the 57th edition of the Cartagena Film Festival in Colombia, running March 1-6.
In a hypnotic blend of fiction and a documentary-like style Thielen Armand looks beyond the headlines and gives a voice to those affected by contemporary Venezuela’s inner turmoil. La Soledad is the story of José, a young father who discovers that the dilapidated mansion he squats in will soon be demolished. Desperate to save his family from homelessness, José embarks on a mystical search for a cursed treasure that is rumored to be buried in the house.
Based on the filmmaker’s family and childhood home, most of the characters are played by his real friends and family members. Hailed as "affectionate, sometimes humorous, sometimes poetic and ultimately devastating" (RogerEbert.com), and supported by the Biennale College program of the Venice Film Festival, Thielen Armand’s lyrical debut feature offers an poignant allegory of the reality of today's Venezuela, which like his childhood home, seems forgotten in time and inhabited by people who have hope but who are not provided with opportunities.
