Small unfinanced Uruguayan film arrives at New York Film Festival; what it’s about

Efei
Uruguayan director Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge On Saturday Tribeca Film Festivalin New York, his film Hold me tighta story about grief and loss of innocence that deals with the concept of time and the blurred distinction between what is and what is not real.

Break the time limit, Adela (Chiara Hourcard), was grief-stricken after Elena’s death (Victoria Jorge) because of illness, she took a bus back ten years ago to spend the weekend with her and her friend Luci (Eva Dance) is located in the coastal town of Solis in Maldonado.

During these three days, the protagonists exchange memories, doubts and fears in Elena’s beach house in Solis, accompanied by Lucy’s son Paquito, while Adela spends a short time with her friends to escape from reality.

The story was born after the filmmaker lost a very close friend, and Guevara told EFE: “The film is a tribute to her, but also to a time and a friendship.”

Jorge added that the idea for the episode “came up very spontaneously, like mushrooms growing when it rains”: “Anita and I met up to see how we were doing. “We started talking about that weekend and those friends, and more specifically, we remembered a particular moment. “

Adela’s time-travel cure for grief was inspired by animated film My Neighbor TotoroA work by Japanese artist Hayao Miyazaki, he also interprets dreamlike reality through the innocence of two young girls.

Photo: Archives

opposite of this, Hold me tight explores the transition to painful adulthood, in which all those things that seemed impossible as a child—like the death of a loved one—become real. Thus, the directors unknowingly end up exploring the loss of innocence that comes with growing up.

This is not the first time the Uruguayans have worked together, and so far their union has taken them to major festivals like Berlin (with So much water). In this case, Agalame Fuerte came to Tribeca as a film without external financing – “The reality is that we made it with a single fund, we did not go out to find financing,” they say – and with a very small production team. In addition to the money, they also highlight the “support of many people” involved in the project: “This type of film, if you don’t want to make it, you won’t make it, because there is no financial counterpart that will change you.”