One film as part of a Latin & Spanish Film Showcase at Laemmle Monica
Outsider Pictures presents a showcase of award-winning Latin and Spanish films to be viewed either individually or as a one-week long mini-festival of five award-winning films beginning July 26. The films from Argentina, Chile and Spain screened at Cannes, San Sebastian, Berlin and Karlovy Vary have garnered more than 50 international festival awards between them.
One of the films, Lullaby (Cinco Lobitos, 2022) is an absorbing story of two generations of a family, and the women in them, dealing with life in both good and not so good ways as it comes at them. A thirty-something, well educated, first-time mother Amaia (Laia Costa), realizes that she doesn’t really know how to be a mom. She is both loving and awkward as a mother, seeming to want to shut the world out, just as her partner, Javier (Mikel Bustamante), and her parents are there to help.
Early on, Amaia tells her mother Begoña (Susi Sánchez) she may have to stop breastfeeding, because of work. She longs to return to work but life has different plans. Her partner, Javi, goes away for several weeks because of his job. After a frustrated Amaia finds temporary work and scrambles to find daycare for Jone, the infant becomes ill with a fever. A bundle of nerves, Amaia decides to go to her parents’ house, in a coastal village in the Basque Country, thus sharing the responsibility of looking after her baby. Upon arrival, relieved, Amaia tells Jone “we’re home now.”
But it’s not quite that easy. Her parents are getting older, slowing down and while there is love, there’s also underlying tensions for Begoña. Mother and daughters’ similarities reveal themselves in time.
Amaia’s father, Koldo (Ramón Barea), is helpful yet helpless as a caregiver, always losing his glasses and asking for directions on how to do anything for Jone besides giving her a bottle. But he’s endearing. All of this tension creates an emotional stew for mother and daughter. At once, it’s easy to both sympathize and be frustrated at their temperaments even while they’re short lived. Both women know how to move on quickly to get on with life. The film presents motherhood in its truest sense, the contradictions, emotions, anger, frustrations and humor and love that it entails.
Lullaby is quietly thoughtful in its character portrait. When her mother falls ill, Amaia is forced to take on all of her responsibilities too. This serves as a real-life lesson for Amaia, while her “ not very affectionate” mother is able to take her daughter under her wing, instructing her in the art of managing a family home and encouraging her with her wisdom. A deeper understanding is born between mother and daughter.
“All those lives you don’t live, they’re always perfect but at some point you have to live the life you’ve been dealt,” Begoña tells Amaia.
In a particularly moving scene, Koldo and Begoña get time away from the tension, gathering at a friend’s house to share a meal. Koldo and his friend begin to sing a song from a concert they attended together.
“If I had clipped her wings
She would have been mine
She wouldn’t have escaped
Then, looking into her eyes, holding her hand, Koldo sings solo to Begoña.
But like that
She would have ceased to be a bird
And I
What I loved was a bird.”
As Begoña smiles softly, a little embarrassed, Koldo looks at her intently.
Lullaby, from Spain, was written and directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azua. Language: Spanish, Basque and English.
The Latin & Spanish Film Showcase
Films will screen individually in rotation each day of the week, and can be seen separately or by purchasing a pass to attend all films. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Latin cinema and a week-long celebration of captivating stories. This collection opens exclusively at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in Los Angeles with more cities to follow.
Creature (Creatura)
After moving in with her boyfriend to their new home, Mila begins to realize her loss of desire lies deep within. She undergoes a self-exploration journey in which she revisits experiences of her childhood and adolescence in hopes to reconcile with her own body.
Written and directed by Elena Martin, Spain.
The Punishment (El Castigo)
Ana is driving, her face serious and angry. Mateo, her husband, asks her to turn around, returning to the place in the forest where they have left their seven-year-old son. It’s only been two minutes, but he’s gone.
Written and directed by: Matias Bize, Chile.
Sica
Sica’s father goes missing after a shipwreck with the threat of a huge storm coming to the village and the silent complicity of the villagers not telling her anything, she becomes obsessed in finding out what really happened to her father, was he really fishing, or involved in a less legal business.
~Berlin Film Festival premiere. Written and directed by Carla Subirana, Spain
You have to come and see it (Teneis que venir a verla)
One winter night in Madrid, two couples who are friends in their thirties are having dinner. Susana and Dani rejoice in their new home, on the outskirts of town and close to the countryside, then announce the imminent arrival of a child.
Written and directed by Jonas Trueba, Spain
Details: https://www.outsiderpictures.us/movie/latinshowcase/
Laemmle website for tickets: https://www.laemmle.com/series/latin-and-spanish-movie-showcase