Sunday, March 12 / 4:00 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery
Program: Meeting with Robert Dole, Vicenta B.
Feature presentation \
Vicenta B.
2022 / 77 minutes / Cuba, Colombia, France, Norway
Director: Carlos Lechuga
Writer: Carlos Lechuga, Fabián Suárez
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: English
family \ longing \ motherhood
Critically acclaimed Cuban director Carlos Lechuga’s third feature film spins the magical, mysterious tale of Vicenta, a charismatic forty-something woman whose life is transformed when her adult (and only) son decides to leave Cuba for distant lands. Before his departure, Vicenta was known for her powers as ‘santera,’ a seer and clairvoyant, advising many in her Havana neighbourhood of what lay in their future. People come to see her every day for advice and guidance. After her son leaves, however, Vicenta experiences deep anxiety and loneliness; she also finds that her special perceptive powers appear to have abandoned her. Undaunted, the charismatic Vicenta (a towering performance by Linnett Hernández Valdéz) embarks on a personal existential journey to revive her abilities, one that will involve reconnecting with the syncretic religious and spiritual traditions of the island, as well as encountering people along the way who will help her.
- Tom McSorley
Le troisième long métrage du réalisateur cubain acclamé par la critique, Carlos Lechuga, raconte l’histoire magique et mystique de Vicenta, une femme charismatique dans la quarantaine dont la vie est transformée lorsque son fils unique adulte décide de quitter Cuba pour des contrées lointaines. Avant son départ, Vicenta était connue pour ses pouvoir de « santera », une prophétesse et clairvoyante qui donne des conseils à plusieurs dans son quartier de la Havane sur ce qui les attend dans leur avenir. Les gens viennent la voir tous les jours pour obtenir des conseils et se faire guider. Cependant, après que son fils fut parti, Vicenta vit de l’anxiété profonde et de la solitude; elle découvre que ses pouvoirs de perception spéciaux semblent l’avoir abandonnée. Imperturbable, la charismatique Vicenta (une prestation a imposante de Linnett Hernández Valdéz) entreprend un parcours personnel existentiel afin de raviver ses habiletés – un parcours qui la mènera à se reconnecter avec les traditions spirituelles de l’île.
- Tom McSorley (traduit par Jacinthe Grenier-Albert)
PRESS
Habanero Film Sales Debuts Carlos Lechuga’s ‘Vicenta B.’ and Alfredo Ureta’s ‘Corrosive’
2022 Chicago International Film Festival Movie Review: Vicenta B
AWARDS
Cine Ceará - Ibero-american Film Festival 2022, Best Director
Cine Ceará - Ibero-american Film Festival 2022, Best Actress (Linnett Hernadez Valdes)
Short film \
Meeting with Robert Dole
Rencontre Avec Robert Dole
2022 / 16 minutes / Quebec
Director: Francois Harvey
This experimental short film gives the floor to Robert Dole who gives us his story and exposes his vision of schizophrenia. The theme of mental illness is echoed here in a cinematographic treatment that explores the materiality of film and magnetic tapes to find points of meeting and detachment, spaces resonating with the fall and redemption of Robert Dole.