Dir/Wri: Nayra Ilic García | Drama, 96′
Chile 1990. A teenage girl runs along a beach beside the Atacama dessert. Footloose and fancy free she is totally indifferent to Pinochet’s dictatorship and the complex political state of her country; she just wants sing, dance and fall in love.
This is Celeste (Helen Mrugalski) the 15-year-old protagonist of Nayra Ilic García‘s stunning sophomore feature, a coming of age drama that follows her feature debut Metro Cuadrado.
Events on the TV and Radio tell how Pinochet is finally losing his grip on the nation, but this is just background noise as all Celeste is dreaming about is boys, and going back to school. The dolce vita comes to an abrupt end when her father dies of a heart attack leaving Celeste adrift with her aunt for several months while her mother Consuelo (Daniela Ramirez) deals with the tragedy. When Celeste finally goes home there’s a solar eclipse to keep her occupied along with navigating a tricky relationship with local lover Jano (Nicolas Contreras) and her grieving mother.
Crucially, Garcia opts to tell her coming of age story from the perspective of a teenage girl rather than through unfolding socio-political events that nevertheless provide a sinister undercurrent to the turbulent family story that remains the main focus. Even the macabre discovery of human bones nearby in the desert fails to grab Celeste’s attention so absorbed is she in her romantic reverie.
The spectacular seascapes and rolling sound of the waves dominate, channelling the young girl’s fluctuating emotional rollercoaster. All this adolescent trauma is interweaved with archive footage of aid work being undertaken by humanitarian organisations.
For Celeste love is all-consuming and serves as an antidote to her mother’s anxiety and fragile state of mind over the upcoming sale of the family home, and her anger at Celeste’s habit of coming and going when the mood takes her with no regard for the regular deaths and disappearances that marked the regime. DoP Sergio Armstrong (who also shot No, The Club and Neruda) captures the mood with his spectacular images in this confident second film from the Chilean writer/director.
WINNER Special Jury Mention // International Feature Competition TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL | NEW YORK 2025