Skip to main content
Baby film image, director Cristina Sánchez Salamanca

Baby

Bebé

Canadian Premiere

The daughter from a man’s first marriage feels left out and misunderstood at a birthday celebration for her younger stepsister. This is a beautifully made family relations story about a child’s insecurities and a father’s failure to recognize his daughter’s needs in a difficult situation. Reminiscent of Catherine Breillat’s emotionally rich works minus the sexual identity aspects, the film captures the mood and feelings of awkward belonging and frustration the daughter is overwhelmed by. Baby stems directly from the director’s experience growing up and exposes the difficulties and confusion children may have when parental relationships change.

 

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Maria José Quintero, Rashed Esteffen, Juliana Bustillo, Mariana Tallaferro

Credits
Country of Origin

Colombia

Year

2022

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
15 min

Featured in:

Mumu film image

International Shorts: Family Ties

The bonds of family form the basis of this program of short films. Bonds with history and responsibility—sometimes close, sometimes strained—now and for the future.

 

MORE INFO

Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre

The History of Concrete
The History of Concrete film image; man smoothing just-poured concrete sidewalk

The History of Concrete

Dir. John Wilson
101 min

After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
La Bola Negra
La Bola Negra film image; man playing a trumpet

La Bola Negra

Dir. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
155 min

A big, old-school historical melodrama gets a thrillingly modern, queer makeover from Spanish duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, who artfully juggle three gay protagonists across stories set in 1932, 1937, and 2017. Winner: Best Director, Cannes. Screening on 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
NAZA
Naza film image; two people sitting in a foggy night with skyscrapers in the background

NAZA

Dir. Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
80 min

NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Mad Dog of Europe

Dir. Rubika Shah
83 min

The story of an unmade screenplay from the writer of Citizen Kane. In 1932, Herman Mankiewicz wrote a film that foretold the persecution of the Jews and the war in Europe. But Hollywood wouldn't take the risk and The Mad Dog of Europe was never made.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Mortal Storm

Dir. Frank Borzage
100 min

In this explicitly anti-Nazi melodrama directed by Frank Borzage (Three Comrades) a year before the US entered the war, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart fall in love as their friends and family fall prey to the rise of Hitler's Nazi party in Germany.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Three Comrades
Three Comrades film image; men gathered outside chatting

Three Comrades

Dir. Frank Borzage
100 min

Scripted by F Scott Fitzgerald, Three Comrades (1938) was the first US studio film to chronicle the rise of European fascism in the 30s. Three German veterans open up a repair shop and try to regain a normal life, but political extremists have other ideas.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Producer

Duván Duque Vargas, Natalia Barriga, Jaime Sánchez, Cristina Sánchez Salamanca

Screenwriter

Cristina Sánchez Salamanca

Cinematography

Luciana Riso

Editor

Ana Benzal

Production Design

Sofía Reyes

Original Music

Valeria Oggioni

Director

Cristina Sánchez Salamanca headshot, Baby director

Cristina Sánchez Salamanca

Cristina Sánchez Salamanca is a Bogotá-based director and screenwriter specializing in fiction and commercial content. After studying Film and TV Direction at the ESCAC in Barcelona, Sánchez Salamanca returned to Colombia in 2016. Her short film Baby had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival’s Official Selection. She has worked as an Assistant Director and a Second Unit Director for Star+ and Disney+. Since 2022, Sánchez Salamanca has been the Head of Development at Vista Productions. She is currently developing her first feature film.