DIRECTORS’ DEBUTS COMPETITION 2017 LINE-UP!
Directors’ Debuts Competition was initiated in 2010 due to the Festival’s increasing openness to the noteworthy artists and the new film phenomena they create. The idea of creating additional competition sections was a natural consequence of our previous activities. For years we have been promoting innovative projects that combine intellectual freedom, remarkable insight into world affairs and a desire to inspire other artists of the screen.
Directors’ Debuts Competition brings new discoveries: great movies of high artistic value and great filmmakers whose new ventures surprise not only the Jury members but all audiences around the world as well.
Alba is 11 years old, the age when girls start to become fixated on boys, put on make-up, and imagine themselves being kissed. But she does not have many friends because of her crippling shyness, to the extent that she often has a nosebleed due to stressful situations. Furthermore, instead of having fun with her peers, Alba has to grapple with the fact that her beloved, bedridden mother is basically dying before her eyes. The difficult family situation forces the girl to move to her estranged father’s apartment, even though she has not had much contact with him after her parents got divorced. Initially, it seems that the man may be in worse shape than her mother, though mentally, not physically. But in the course of time it turns out that the father is also very shy and terrified of the whole situation. He has no idea how to raise an 11-year-old girl. Two people incapable of having a meaningful relationship with the outside world have to learn how to trust and support each another.
Director: Ana Cristina Barragán
Cinematographer: Simón Brauer
Produced by: Caleidoscopio Cine
Ecuador, 2016
Ecuador, 2016
