Timetable

Aurora

Paz Fábrega

CR / MX
2021
Feature Film
90’
OmU
International Feature Film Competition

This film has been nominated for the Audience Award endowed with 1,000 euro. Please vote after watching the movie.
You can find an overview of all nominated films here.

Luisa is an architect, but in her spare time also teaches art classes to children and teenagers. One day she finds 17-year-old Yuliana in the school bathroom, who has got herself pregnant and is trying to take pills to induce an abortion. Luisa decides to let Yuliana move in with her temporarily, and finds herself treading a tricky line between being a friend, mentor and stand-in mother. She soon realises she can be there for Yuliana but also needs to let her go her own way. Showing huge respect for her characters, Paz Fábrega sensitively depicts the process of fostering mutual trust while trying to find the best solution to the situation.

The filmmaker directs by focusing on the emotions of her two different characters, successfully capturing what lies deep within their gaze. The quiet scenes in Luisa’s flat of her working on a choreography that she can’t quite make headway on contrast with the sequences in the school and the children working away busily. Luisa seems completely absorbed in this creative work, and the scenes have the power and intensity of documentary footage. As in earlier films, Paz Fábrega uses a non-professional cast in Aurora, and this gives it real authenticity.

Director / Script

Paz Fábrega

Cinematography

María Secco

Editing

Soledad Salfate

Sound

Federico Moreira

Music

Alex Catona

Cast

Rebeca Woodbridge, Raquel Villalobos, Liliana Biamonte, Erika Rojas

Production

Patricia Velásquez, Paz Fábrega, Marianella Illas, Iván Molina, Isabella Gálvez

Contact

Pascale Ramonda

black and white portrait of a young woman

Paz Fábrega

Born 1979 in San José, Costa Rica, Paz Fábrega first studied photography and journalism before attending the London Film School. In 2006 she graduated with her short film Temporal, which was in competitions at several film festivals including in Clermont-Ferrand. Her second short film Cuilos premiered in the Locarno competition in 2008. Her debut feature film Cold Water of the Sea premiered in 2010 in Rotterdam, winning the festival’s Tiger Award, and appeared in the Internationales Frauen* Film Fest’s Debut Feature Film Competition. Her second feature film Viaje (2015) was screened for the first time at Tribeca Film Festival. Aurora celebrated its world premiere in 2021 in Rotterdam.


Films by Paz Fábrega
Viaje 2015 | Agua fría de mar 2010 | Cuilos 2008 | Temporal 2006