Quiet Revolutions
As part of the NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA, Quiet Revolutions is a film season that celebrates Costa Rican women filmmakers.
Hosted by the NFTS Screening Room, the season will take place from the 4th - 6th December 2020; each day presenting a feature film with accompanying short film. Through their fresh approach to aesthetics and narrative, challenging "established" gender roles, they define key trends in the last decade of Costa Rican cinema.
In the last 10 years, Costa Rica’s emerging film industry has been spear headed by women filmmakers. As this season shows, their intimate portraits of family and relationship dynamics confront the patriarchal oppression of everyday life, resonating not only in Costa Rica, but all over the world. The voices of these filmmakers are essential to a deeper social change inside and outside Latin American societies.
From the surrealist melodrama El Despertar de las Hormigas by Antonella Sudasassi, to the magical realism of the deep forest in Ceniza Negra by Sofía Quirós and the experimental pieces of Alejandra Ramírez, Costa Rican cinema takes significant new routes on the path towards consolidating the film industry in the Central American region.
Sergio Martínez Esqueda, Film Curator
- Friday December 4th - Land of Ashes | Under The Moonlight
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Ceniza Negra (Land of Ashes)Dir. Sofía Quirós | Costa Rica | 2019 | 82 minutes
Visually captivating, intimate and mysteriously magic, Land of Ashes is a coming-of-age fable of family, death and loss set deep in the tropical forest of Central America. Sofia Quirós’ debut feature marks the first Costa Rican entry to Cannes in 2019 and reveals an exciting new actress, Smachleen Gutiérrez, in the role of 13-year old Selva.
After the mysterious disappearance of her mother, Selva has to take care of her grandfather Tata (Humberto Samuels) who prefers to die peacefully in his home. Selva embarks on an inner magical-realist journey where she has to decide between helping Tata die or not, and reconcile with the spirit of her mother.
Todas las Lunas (Under The Moonlight)
Dir. Cristina Solano | Costa Rica | 2020 | 20 minutes
A non-linear, complex narrative with tones of visual poetry, Cristina Solano’s debut short film touches on the process of losing a loved one with a singular approach to minimal dialogue, focusing on the poetics of nature and body.
Soledad is a young woman who returns to her grandmother's house after years of having cut off communication with her family. She wants to connect with nature, her family's spiritual practices and her sister with whom she never developed a relationship. At the same time she is looking for a way to heal the duel of her mother's death.
- Saturday December 5th - Medea | Partly Cloudy with Thunderstorm Hazard
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MedeaDir. Alexandra Latishev | Costa Rica | 2017 | 78 minutes
Alexandra Latishev’s visceral portrait of an ultraconservative Costa Rica explores a society where abortion is illegal and the gender inequalities are visible in all strands of society. A personal story about alienation and the politics of the body, following, according to Latishev, “an unconventional female lead who is confrontational and strong, who manipulates the system in order to survive.”
María José (Liliana Biamonte), a wealthy university student whose parents are emotionally distant, lives an emotionally disconnected life in San José, Costa Rica. After trying to have a relationship with Javier (Javier Montenegro), María José confronts the struggles of a secret pregnancy.
Parcialmente Nublado con Peligro de Tormenta (Partly Cloudy with Thunderstorm Hazard)
Dir. Nicole Villalobos Mora | Costa Rica | 2020 | 15 minutes
The simplicity of its straight storytelling in contrast with the atmospheric tension it creates, makes Nicole Villalobos Mora’s short film an enthralling emotional experience that opens the path for a new generation of filmmakers with a fresh approach to film genres.
Esther does not have a good relationship with her father, but she must go with him for a walk in the mountains, along with her older brother. During the trip, the father disappears, a fact that generates unexpected feelings in his daughter.
- Sunday December 6th - The Awakening of the Ants | I Can Write Anything About Any Image | Come and Go
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El Despertar de las Hormigas (The Awakening of the Ants)Dir. Antonella Sudasassi | Costa Rica | 2017 | 78 minutes
An unconventional melodrama with touches of Buñuelesque surrealism. Antonella Sudasassi’s powerful debut fights the patriarchal and sexual oppression of the domestic routine and maternal life; as Sudasassi notes: “Maternal love is often macho, and these patterns that we learn, we repeat them in the different spheres of our lives. Learning to love is a political act.”
Isabel (Daniela Valenciano), mother of two girls and married, manages to attend the family and do all the domestic work, fulfilling all the expectations that the ones that surround her expects. She starts doubting her imposed role and begins a silent fight against systematic impositions.
Puedo Escribir Cualquier Cosa de Cualquier Imagen + Viene y Va (I Can Write Anything About Any Image + Come and Go)
Dir. Alejandra Ramírez León | Costa Rica | 2017 - 2019 | 4 minutes + 3 minutes
Visual artist Alejandra Ramírez León has experimented with family archive, subtitles and distorted images to create deep personal reflections on memory. This programme presents two of her works that captivate through their intimate, attractive visual experimentations.