Longing Souls

El alma quiere volar

Director: Diana Montenegro García
Country: Colombia, Brazil

German Premiere
2020 | 88 min. | Spanish
Subtitles: German, English
FSK 18

Cast_ Laura Castro, María Fernanda Puyo, Lílla Córdoba Screenplay_ Diana Montenegro García Camera_ Andrés Morales Producer_ Orlando Culzat, Diana Montenegro, Aline Mazarella, Matheus Peçanha, Thiago Yamachita Rights_ CINEMA Co., Estúdio Giz

Heat seeps into the rhythm of everyday life, into images and light. It also binds together in this film about community and life as a woman in Colombia.

The 10-year-old Camila spends the summer with her grandmother, almost exclusively in the company of women. They lovingly look after each other; cook, eat and bathe together; care for their skin and talk a lot. Camila quickly realises that there is more that binds them together than mere kinship: a curse is said to have been cast on the women in the family, causing unhappiness in their relationships. This belief is convenient, given that Camila longs for nothing more than her parents’ separation.

The documentaries of Colombian director Diana Montenegro have already earned her many awards. For Longing Souls, her fictional debut, she received support from Lucrecia Martel, one of the icons of Latin American cinema. With mesmerising tenderness, her film pays attention to the smallest gestures. It’s impressive how her gaze brings this unusual female community to life.

Director

Diana Montenegro García was born in Colombia. Her first short film Sin decir nada won, among others, the Golden India Catalina award at the Cartagena International Film Festival in 2007. After another festival success with Magnolia (2011), her documentary Whispers from a Birch opened the Cairo International Women's Film Festival in 2015.

Trailer