Cuba’s Lola Amores, star of fest hits “Wild Woman,” “Miki Maniaco” and “Santa & Andrés,” will topline “Her Lightness,” the feature debut of compatriot Rosa María Rodríguez Pupo who “opens up an historical gap in the midst of a cinematography made mostly by me in Cuba,” producers Martha Orozco and Cristina Gallego toldPvNew.
Also produced by Armando Capó, Rodríguez’s partner in life and at Cuba’s GatoRosafilms, “Her Lightness” (“La Levedad de Ella”) weighs in at Switzerland’s Locarno Festival, Europe’s biggest mid-summer film event, as one of the highest-profile entries in Open Doors, a carefully curated showcase of projects and recent pics from smaller countries around the world, for the last three years from Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Written by Rodríguez, the film charts a radical act for a woman in many people’s eyes: Breaking the common assumed concept that woman are in the world to help others.
In “Her Lightness,” Nora’s journey is one of ever greater introspection. 42, she lies, saying she’s pregnant in order to abandon her cancer treatment, then distances herself from her husband.
“To make her journey to freedom she must let go of the ties that make her a mirror woman, to be able to float and be light as she had always wanted. Her decision is incomprehensible but will enlighten also the path for her beloveds ones too,” the synopsis runs.
Also a producer, as a director Rodríguez has built up a substantial body of shorts – “La costurera” (2016), “I Love Papuchi” (2018), “Nara” (2020) and “La Trenza,” part of “Cuentos de un día más.” She also directed one-hour doc “Organo.”
“Her Lightness’” notability comes from its director’s questioning female vision of women’s relations and the title’s backing. It is set up as a production of Cuba’s GatoRosafilms, Mexico’s Martfilms and Colombia’s Ciudad Lunar, in co-production with with Laima in Colombia. It is an associate production of Cuba’s Vedado Films.
Working out of Ciudad Lunar, Colombia’s Gallego produced 2016 Oscar nominee “Embrace of the Serpent,” then produced and co-directed “Birds of Passage,” a major Cannes 2018 Directors’ Fortnight hit, and produced 2022 San Sebastian, Zurich and Chicago top prize winner “The Kings of the World.”
Focusing on social issue films and new directors, Mexico’s Orozco produced “Allende, Beyond Allende,” a Cannes best documentary L’Œil d’Or winner, as well as Toronto and San Sebastian premiere “Daughter of Rage.”
A distinguished director in his own right, Capó broke out with 2019’s “Agosto,” which topped San Sebastian’s industry awards in 2014. He now has “El Regresado” near to completing post-production and doc feature “La tierra de la ballena,” a tribute to his native city of Gibara, in talks regarding its premiere.
“‘Her Lightness’ is the premiere film of a Cuban director with a career on the rise, as evident in Rosa María Rodríguez Pupo’s previous works,” Orozco and Gallego said in a joint statement. “We believe that as an author she has the potential and sensitivity to create a powerful, honest, and realistic film from her female intimate approach on a sensitive and universal theme,” “With our international experience an artistic and technical collaboration has been designed to accompany the creative process.”
