There’s no doubt that Chile will have a strong presence at the Basque festival. This morning, an advance of the films competing in the Official Selection was revealed, including big-name directors, among whom is Chilean filmmaker José Luis Torres Leiva, who will premiere his latest piece Death will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes. This announcement joins that made just a few days ago, revealing that Some Beasts by Jorge Riquelme will be part of the New Directors section.
Produced by Catalina Vergara of Globo Rojo Films, starring Amparo Noguera and Julieta Figero, Death will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes tells the story of two women who have spent their whole lives together and find themselves faced with one’s imminent illness. The sick woman decides not to undergo any treatment, and together, they move to a small house in the forest until the day death arrives in their lives. Thus they will reencounter the love that time had buried by way of routine. Bit by bit, they will strengthen their relationship, all the while death awaits its moment just outside the cabin.
Torres Leiva used the name of a poem by Cesare Pavese as a title of his film, which was one of the projects in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2016. In the words of the director, the film shows “the desire to speak on death and utterly distance oneself from its clichés and stereotypes. Speaking not of an end to a life but rather the beginning and the possibility of something new, of hope in those who remain alive, an internal discovery that’s necessary to grow as a person”.
During the coming weeks, the Basque competition will announce the titles in sections such as Latin Horizons, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Perlak, and Nest Students. As is the case every year, Chile is expected to have a significant level of participation in the festival, with premieres and productions by both new and consecrated national directors.
