The Costa Rican film “Clara Sola” will have its world premiere at the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, in France. The feature film, directed by Costa Rican Nathalie Álvarez, is about Clara (played by Wendy Chinchilla), a withdrawn 40-year-old woman who experiences a sexual awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive religious and social conventions that have dominated her life.
The film was filmed entirely in Cosa Rica, in the towns of Vara Blanca de Heredia and Poasito de Alajuela between February and March 2020 and is a production that involved companies from five countries: Hobab (Sweden), Pacifica Gray (Costa Rica), Need Productions (Belgium), Resolve Media (USA) and Laidak Films (Germany).
A long process
“It was a long process, taking many years of work, little by little it has progressed (…) we were able to film in seven weeks before the Pandemic began last year”, The representative of Pacifica Gray, Marcelo Quesada, commented.
Clara Sola is Pacifica Grey’s second project at the Cannes Film Festival. The company produces and distributes quality Costa Rican cinema directed by directors who have their own style. The first participation in the festival was with him after the short film Lucía en el limbo by Valentina Maurel in 2019
Nathalie Álvarez is a Costa Rican-Swedish screenwriter and director, studied acting, directing and screenwriting in Costa Rica, Sweden and the United States. She co-wrote Entre Tú y Milagros, winner of the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 2020 Venice Film Festival and is developing her second feature film, “The Wolf Will Tear Your Inmaculate Hands”, at the Torino ScriptLab 2021.
Promoting the careers of director from all over the world
The 53rd edition of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in France will take place from July 7 to 17. This contest stands out for promoting the careers and 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 of the festival, which has been in the making since 1969.
