The Colombian Spanish language film Litigante (M) by acclaimed director Franco Lolli, will screen in cinemas across Australia from Thursday 30 July. Litigante is the second feature by Lolli, and opened Cannes Critics Week in 2019, garnering emotional responses from audiences and critics alike.
Litigante follows single mother Silvia, a talented lawyer struggling to care for her young son and ill-tempered, cancer-battling mother, amidst a developing corruption scandal at work. The film’s central theme is kinship and Lolli has been praised for his intimate portrayal of modern womanhood and the complexities that exist in family relationships.
For Franco Lolli, Litigante is a deeply personal piece of work as he cast his own mother (Leticia Gomez) in the role of Leticia, Silvia’s mother battling lung cancer. Filming the role was challenging for both mother and son, as Leticia Gomez was in remission from her own cancer battle. Lolli comments “On the set of Litigante, I cried approximately 20 days out of 40, I was shaken by what I was filming.” The role of Silvia was played by Carolina Sanín, a well-known writer and feminist figure in Colombia, who incidentally happened to be Lolli’s cousin. Both Carolina and Leticia are not trained actors, which is extraordinary given the performances in the film.
The film is tender, understated and multi-layered, Lolli adds “Litigante has quite a classic structure and tells a seemingly simple story, but underneath there are many things that end up being filmed almost without me wanting it, or at least without me deciding it. It is probably what gives the film its strength.”
In addition to opening Cannes Critics Week in 2019, Litigante also screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Gold Hugo award in the New Directors category. The film is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Limelight Distribution: www.limelightdistribution.co.nz/film/litigante
Language: Spanish with English subtitles | Duration: 93 minutes
ENTER TO WIN
Canberra Daily has 10 x double passes to Litigante, screening in Canberra at Palace Electric, to be won.
To enter, email [email protected] with ‘Litigante’ in the subject field. Tell us your name, full contact details (including best delivery address) and where this film is screening in Canberra. Entries close 9am Friday 24 July 2020 and winners drawn same day. One entry per person. Entrants must be aged 18+.
