North American Premiere
Recently accepted to a dance masters program abroad, Laura must decide if she’s ready to walk away from Tijuana and her ex. Tonight she is watched by a coven lurking in the shadows.
Community Partner
Marianna Escobedo, Sofia Jofré, Násmar Guzmán, Leo Aldair, Brenda Bellozo
Mexico
2024
In Spanish with English subtitles
Flashing/strobing lights
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits & Director
Producer
Melissa Castañeda
Screenwriter
Marinthia Gutiérrez
Cinematography
Mayela Ponce
Editor
Marinthia Gutiérrez
Original Music
Angélica García, Papalote Pulse
Marinthia Gutiérrez
Writer and director from Tijuana, Mexico. She graduated from the UCLA Theater, Film, and Television School in 2018 with a Bachelor’s in Film, & TV, emphasizing in narrative directing.
Marinthia is drawn to tell stories that are character-driven and introspective in an almost surreal way– she likes being close to her subjects in order to show raw emotions through highly stylized images. Her tone can be described as atmospheric magical realism.
Marinthia’s horror-dance short film, Ella se queda (She stays) (2024), is the recipient of the 2022 Standard Fantastic Fellowship, which is sponsored by Kodak and Fotokem to shoot in 16mm film, Official Selection at Semaine de la Critique – Cannes and Guadalajara International Film Festival.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
No Other Land
Deemed by many critics one of the essential films of 2024, a multiple festival award winner and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary, No Other Land is a reminder that mass expulsion is by no means a new reality for Palestinians.
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
