LA SOLEDAD
A film by Jorge Thielen Armand
Venezuela, Canada, Italy
89 min. 2016


73rd Venice International Film Festival
Biennale College


WITH
José Dolores López
Adrializ López
Jorge Roque Thielen
Marley Alvillares
María Agámez

DIRECTOR
Jorge Thielen Armand


PRODUCERS
Adriana Herrera
Rodrigo Michelangeli
Jorge Thielen Armand


CO-PRODUCER
Manon Ardisson


SCREENPLAY
 Jorge Thielen Armand
Rodrigo Michelangeli


PRODUCTION DESIGN
Gabriela Vilchez


CINEMATOGRAPHY
Rodrigo Michelangeli


EDITOR
Felipe Guerrero


SOUND DESIGN
Eli Cohn


PRODUCTION COMPANIES
La Faena
Alfarería Cinematográfica
Ardimages UK
 

WITH THE SUPPORT OF
La Biennale di Venezia

Combining sharp social critique with the offbeat poetry of magical realism, La Soledad offers an engaging portrait of the effects of economic catastrophe on individuals’ lives. Director Jorge Thielen Armand’s debut feature, this film sees him return to La Soledad, a house in Venezuela once inhabited by his great-grandparents and now threatened with demolition. The house is dilapidated—antique portraits hang from crumbling walls and garden weeds force their way through the cracks—yet in the midst of Venezuela’s economic and political crisis it has become a sanctuary for those who live there. La Soledad not only offers a lyrical evocation of a decaying world but also opens up new possibilities for documentary cinema. — Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, UK


SYNOPSIS
José lives with his family in La Soledad, a dilapidated villa located in what used to be one of Caracas’ most affluent neighborhoods. After learning that the owners are planning to sell the property, José seeks any solution that might keep his young daughter from growing up in the city’s crime-ridden slums.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE
I remember exploring the gardens of my great-grandmother’s house with José. The stories we heard as kids had transformed La Soledad into a vast, surreal place where I even encountered the spirit of my great-grandfather. His image continues to lingers in my mind. I hadn't visited the house since I left Venezuela, but when I learned it was going to be demolished I decided to return. José was still living there and we had not seen each other in eleven years. I proposed that we make a film together about our childhood memories. I wanted to recreate the stories we shared, and preserve what was left behind in this house. Making the film became a kind of familial archaeologic excavation, and a way to understand the pain of the harrowing economic crisis that separated me from my family and from José.

PRESS
> Poetic and ultimately devastating. Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
> Gains potency in the mind as a full-bodied portrait of a country in dangerous decline. David Jenkins, Little White Lies
> Opens up new possibilities for documentary cinema. Nico Marzano, ICA London
> An astonishing achievement. Maria Delgado, Sight & Sound
> This promising debut feature opens up gradually, like a fragrant but potentially poisonous night-blooming flower. Leslie Felperin, The Guardian
> A quietly compelling item that appears to be part documentary, part realist fiction, with a faint edge of dream-like ghostliness. Jonathan Romney, The Observer
> Vivid. Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
> An extraordinary blend of documentary and fiction, a strikingly intimate, humane tale of a family, a house, and a nation. Like nothing you've seen before. Maryann Johanson, Flicks Filospher


SCREENINGS (selection)
73rd Venice International Film Festival. Italy
57th Cartagena International Film Festival. Colombia
35th Istanbul International Film Festival. Turkey
35th Film Fest München. Germany
48th Goa International Film Festival. India
39th Havana International Film Festival. Cuba
15th Istanbul Biennial. Pera Museum. Turkey
19th BAFICI - Buenos Aires. Argentina
22nd Festival International de Cinéma D’Auteur de Rabat. Morocco
28th AFI Film Festival Latin America. USA
MOMI - Museum of the Moving Image of New York City. USA
Frames of Representation. Closing Film. Institute of Contemporary Arts London. UK
Cineteca Matadero Madrid. Spain

AWARDS
Prix du Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma. 26st Festival Biarritz Amérique-Latine. France
Audience Award for Best Film. 34th Miami International Film Festival. USA
Best Latin American First Film of the Year 2017. 8th Cinema Tropical Awards. USA
Jury Prize. 41st Atlanta International Film Festival. USA
Honourable Mention. 48th Nashville Film Festival. USA
First Prize. 35th Rhode Island International Film Festival. USA
Best Screenplay. 38th Durban International Film Festival. South Africa
Best Editing. 38th Durban International Film Festival. South Africa
Best Film. 18th AluCine Latin Film+Media Arts Festival Toronto. Canada
Best Film. 12th Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de La Plata. Argentina
Best First Film. 13th Festival del Cine Venezolano. Venezuela
Best Sound. 13th Festival del Cine Venezolano. Venezuela
Best Director. 1st Festival de Cine de América de Hidalgo. Mexico
Honorific Mention. 4th La Casa Cine Fest - National Cinematheque of Ecuador