The Costa Rican film Clara Sola, by director NathaliaÁlvarez, already has a world premiere date on July 8th and will do so at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, during the Directors’ Fortnight of the contest.
The 53rd edition of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in France will take place from July 7th to 17th. This contest stands out for promoting the first films of directors from all over the world. On this occasion, it is the first time that a Costa Rican film has been selected in this section.
“It was a long process, taking many years of work, little by little it has progressed (…) we were able to film it in seven weeks before the pandemic began last year, commented the representative of the Pacific Gray production company, Marcelo Quesada.
The story
The feature film tells the story of Clara, a 40-year-old woman who has a special connection with God. She maintains her family as a “healer” while she finds comfort in the natural world.
“After years of being controlled by the repressive care of her mother, Clara’s sexual desires are fueled by her attraction to her niece’s new boyfriend. This new force takes Clara into uncharted territory, allowing her to cross frontiers, both physical and mystical. Strengthened by her self-discovery, Clara gradually frees herself from her role as ‘saint’ and begins to heal herself,” says the film’s synopsis The film locations took place in Poasito de Alajuela and Vara Blanca de Heredia
Álvarez premiered Flip, his last short film in 2015, which has been awarded Best Live-Action Film under 15 minutes at Palm Springs Shortfest 2016 and has been screened at prestigious festivals such as Oberhausen, LA Film Festival, Outfest, Hamptons, New Orleans , among others. His short Asunder screened at the 2016 Telluride Film Festival and won the Jury Prize at the Shnit International Film Festival at Playgrounds San José.
Return of the festival
Spike Lee, TildaSwinton, Wes Anderson and Sean Penn will be some of the protagonists of the return of the great event in world cinema starting Tuesday in Cannes, a festival that despite the pandemic wants to be normal, or almost.
The health crisis forced the 2020 event to be canceled and this edition will be held two months later than usual, since the organizers refused to hold it online, as did other major festivals, such as the Berlinale.
