CANDELARIA

Cuba/Colombia, 2017
Spanish with English subtitles | 87 min
Director: Jhonny Hendrix in attendance

Saturday, September 1st
7:15pm @ SFU Woodward’s | Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 
Sunday, September 2nd 
3:15pm @The Cinematheque

Havana, 1994. Right when the embargo is at its peak, the Cold War comes to an end and the Soviet Union disintegrates. Candelaria, 75, and Víctor Hugo, 76, are more focused on finding enough to eat and preserving their one remaining lightbulb than they are on each other. The days are repetitive, conversations are sparse, dinners are sad. But the monotony is suddenly broken when Candelaria finds a video camera tangled in the dirty sheets of the hotel laundry where she works. Not sure of what to do with it just yet, she brings it home. The arrival of this foreign object in their home unleashes all kinds of unexpected consequences. This sweet and saucy tale of an older married couple re-finding their spark, is absolutely lovely to watch. 

 Amusing, outrageous and, ultimately, moving, Candelaria seduces us through the subtlety with which it tackles the topic of sex in old age, through how it lays bare (literally) the life of a couple of seniors compelled to come up with little tricks to survive, through its exciting close-ups, the music and colours of Cuba, and through the incredible joie de vivre it exudes. –Vittoria Scarpa, CineEuropa 

Giornate degli Autori Director’s Award, Venice 2017 

La Habana, 1994; es la época cuando el embargo está en su apogeo, la Guerra Fría está llegando a su fin y la Unión Soviética se está desintegrando. Pero las vidas de Candelaria, 75, y Víctor Hugo, 76, continúan a un ritmo lento. Los días son repetitivos, las conversaciones son escasas, las cenas son tristes. Pero la monotonía se rompe cuando Candelaria encuentra una cámara de video escondida en las sábanas sucias del hotel donde trabaja. No estando segura de que hacer con la cámara, la trae a casa. Esta cámara, un objeto extraño para ambos, se va colando sutilmente en sus vidas, ellos aprenden a utilizarla, y comienzan a grabarse mientras se besan, bailan y hacen el amor. Esta chispa de amor que han recuperado, les hace olvidar que uno de ellos está enfermo. Ahora, se tienen el uno al otro. Ahora, todo es vida. 

Filmography: Candelaria (2017), Saudó, laberinto de almas (2016), Chocó (2012) 

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