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SUNRISE IN MY MIND (TNGAIREAH KNONG CHET)

Dir.: Danech San, C: Madeza Chhem, Vicheka Yorn, Bopha Neng, Chanra Chin, DOP: Jeremiah Overman, CAM 2020, 14 min., Khmer OwEs – European Premiere

A warm evening at the polychrome beauty salon. Lost in thought, Pich massages her customer’s scalp. Lay seems dreamy, too, as he cruises through nocturnal Phnom Penh on his motorcycle. The fan whirs, and as the limbo grows, so does the anticipation. Cell phone videos and contemplative inspections of the salon inventory fill the time until the end of the shift. As the narrative threads begin to weave together, realism is thrown into doubt. The image takes on a life of its own, diffusing into fantasy. Instead of condensing, time slips away. A film whose surface is as permeable as shimmering shampoo foam.

FAUNA

Dir.: Nicolás Pereda, C: Luisa Pardo, Francisco Barreiro, Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez, José Rodriguez López, Teresita Sánchez, DOP: Mariel Baqueiro, MEX/CAN 2020, 70 min., Spanish OwEs

Even the navigation system seems untrustworthy: Luisa and her actor boyfriend Paco initially end up in nowhere on their way to Luisa’s parents in the Mexican countryside. When they reach their destination, Paco buys overpriced cigarettes from a stranger in front of the local store — the guy turns out to be Luisa’s father. The situation becomes even more bizarre when, over a drink at a bar, the father asks Paco to re-enact a scene from his role in the TV series NARCOS. In an atmosphere of paranoia and absurdity, where media fictions meet Mexican realities, Nicolás Pereda’s characters enter the frame with conviction, only to move on to the next story a moment later, costumed in wigs and glasses. A playful, comic film noir in which unpredictability is the only constant.

Debate: Playact – March 3, 8 PM

Based on the two films SUNRISE IN MY MIND and FAUNA, we talk about the idea of a cinema that submerges in a flow of ideas, that allows for aesthetic outbursts and seeks to explode narrative layers. We want to discuss characters beyond realistic premises, embodied by actresses and actors who do not allow themselves to be pinned down to a single kind of transformation. A debate on the potential of cinematic illusions and the political strategies connected to them.

Guests: Nicolás Pereda, Danech San, Constanze Becker, Lola Arias
Moderation: Bert Rebhandl

We present this programme in collaboration with the Ibero-American Institute.