SEPT 3rd, 20:30 — 22:30 at mercato kultur
and 21:00 – 23:00 at Cinéma Elvire Popesco
“We chose to open the festival with EMA, a film that honestly highlights the story of two people who come together for the wrong reasons and the efforts of a young woman to change her life, for the innovative way it explores the connection between the body as a reflection on contemporary society and dance as a way of life. Directed by Pablo Larraín, this film invites us to walk through a rainbow of emotions, while captivated by the passion with which Mariane Di Girolamo dances.”
About the film
Drama, 113’, 2019, CL
D: Pablo Larraín
Visionary director Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Neruda) returns with the dazzling Ema, an intoxicating comment on sex, power and chaos in modern-day Chile. Knife-sharp and unapologetically punk, it’s a whirlwind of provocative, no-holds-barred anarchy, anchored by a searing central performance from rising star Mariana Di Girolamo.
Ema (Di Girolamo) is a young dancer in a reggaeton troupe: effortlessly magnetic and dangerously impulsive. Her toxic marriage to older choreographer Gastón (Gael García Bernal) is beyond repair, following a rash decision to hand their adopted child Polo back into the hands of the state. Racked with regret, she sets out on a mission to get her son back, not caring who she’ll need to fight, seduce or destroy to make it happen.
Driven by an electrifying original score by Nicolas Jaar and a reggaeton tracklist plucked straight from the streets of Valparaíso, Larraín’s latest is thrillingly defiant and palpably fresh. The film screened In Competition at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
About the director
PABLO LARRAÍN is one of Chile’s greatest movie directors as well as a major producer. Not for the weak-hearted, his films are straightforward, generally aggressive and interspersed with violence. They paint a hard-hitting portrait of his country, Chile. Fuga (2006), his first effort, was about a composer going mad while El Club (2015) takes place in a beach house where priests who have “sinned” are sidelined. El Club was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Globes as Best Foreign Film and won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival. His most recent releases, Neruda and Jackie (both 2016) also enjoyed great international success, including nominations for The Academy Awards, the Golden Globe and the SAG Awards for Jackie.