Premiere Status Archives: U.S. Premiere

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Two kids sit together and smile at eachother in a dirty, tiled hallway.

Rita

  Paz Vega

  Spain     94 minutes

Synopsis

Seville, summer 1984. Seven-year-old Rita lives in a humble working-class neighborhood with her parents and little brother. Through the sensorial experience of the textures of everyday life, Rita experiences the world around her: the oppressive heat, the tense air in the apartment, her father’s anger, a crash from the next room, her mother’s hushed phone calls in the kitchen, the strange purple marks around her mother’s eye. As Rita begins to sense the rising danger at home, she retreats farther into her imagination — until she is forced to awaken from her innocence.

Legendary Spanish actress Paz Vega (Sex and Lucía) lends a powerful performance as Rita’s mother, and also emerges as a director to watch through her delicate and poignant portrayal of the young girl’s interiority. Rita is a deeply personal and moving exploration of domestic violence as experienced through the eyes of a child.

 Spanish with subtitles

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Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Marta Velasco, Gonzalo Bendala
  •   Paz Vega
  •   Ana Álvarez Ossorio
  •   Eva Díaz
  •   Paz Vega, Roberto Álamo, Sofía Allepuz, Alejandro Escamilla
  •   Pablo Cervantes
  •   Marta Velasco
  •   Áralan Films
  •   https://filmaxinternationalsales.com/film/rita

Sponsors

New Directors Program Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

With Support From

Logo: Instituto Cervantes (wide) 820x75

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A group of girls dressed in pink sit on a riverbank looking out.

The Brink of Dreams Rafaat einy ll sama

  Nada Riyadh & Ayman El Amir

  Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia     101 minutes

Synopsis

In a small village in southern Egypt, a group of girls form a street theater troupe as both a creative outlet and a fearless act of defiance. Challenging the patriarchal norms of their conservative Coptic Christian community, the girls dream of becoming actresses, dancers, and singers. They take to the dusty roads of their town to enact short plays that offer provocative challenges to passersby, asking questions like why a girl cannot marry the boy she loves.

Shot over four years with extraordinary access to its subjects, Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir’s film follows these brave girls from adolescence to adulthood, charting the complex and myriad ways in which each must navigate growing up as they form romantic partnerships and  face the social demands of womanhood. As feminist empowerment and aspirational dreams collide with the sobering realities of life, The Brink of Dreams offers a poignant and absorbing coming-of-age story of female solidarity and youthful rebellion. Winner of the top documentary prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

 Arabic with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Ayman El Amir, Nada Riyadh, Marc Irmer, Claire Chassagne
  •   Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir
  •   Véronique Lagoarde-Ségot, Ahmed Magdy Morsy, Ayman El Amir, Nada Riyadh
  •   Dina El Zeneiny, Ahmed Ismail, Ayman El Amir
  •   Majda Masoud, Haidi Sameh, Monika Youssef, Marina Samir, Myriam Nassar, Lydia Haroun, Youstina Samir
  •   Ahmad El Sawy
  •   Felucca Films, Dolce Vita Films, Magma Films
  •   https://www.thepartysales.com/movie/the-brink-of-dreams/

Sponsors

Documentary Program Partner

Logo: WTTW (2019)

Documentary Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

Film Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin