HOLY BEASTS
Special Features: U.S. Premiere
[LA FIERA Y LA FIESTA]
In this dark and playful metafiction, filmmakers Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas (SAMBA, SAND DOLLARS) revive the memory of cult director Jean-Louis Jorge, a well-known figure in his home county of the Dominican Republic, where his transgressive body of work is often seen as a precursor to Pedro Almodóvar. Reuniting a group of old friends who ran with Jorge in the 1970s, the film tracks their attempt to shoot his unfinished film – an outlandish musical entitled LA FIERA Y LA FIESTA. Former starlet and muse Vera V (Geraldine Chaplin) assumes the role of director, while producer Victor (Jaime Pina) sets out to find financing, and Vera's longtime choreographer Henry (Udo Kier) oversees the complex musical numbers. However, when shooting commences, reality, fantasy, fiction and memory begin to merge as conflict seeps into the troubled production. Official Selection, 2019 Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas; PROD Rafael Elias Munoz, Gabriel Tineo. Dominican Republic/Argentina/Mexico, 2019, color, 90 min. In English, Spanish and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 90 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, September 20, 2019
Genre: Drama