LIGHTNING FALLS BEHIND
Atrás hay relámpagos/ Costa Rica, 2017
Director: Julio Hernández Cordón

Spanish with English subtitles | 86 min
Costa Rica Spotlight

Preceded by VAMPIRE REBOUND
Saturday, August, 31 | 9:30 PM | Cinematheque


Sole and Ana make a pact: they will never exchange their beloved racing bikes for a polluting car. Their friends Frank, Gato and Lou are also married to their BMX: nothing is more important than stunts and night-time races through the streets of San José. But one day, in Sole’s grandmother’s garden, the girls find a collection of old cars. While they realize a secret dream by using one of them as an Uber taxi, a gruesome discovery puts their friendship to the test. Director Julio Hernández Cordón already has an impressive oeuvre of contemporary, unpolished films that do not shy away from being shocking while also being infectiously funny. In his sixth feature, Hernández Cordón again combines elements from the lives of an amateur cast with his own impressive imagination. —Rotterdam

Atrás hay relámpagos cuenta la historia de Sole y Ana, quienes recorren la ciudad de San José, Costa Rica, en bicicleta. Se sienten valientes, atrevidas, y mantienen una promesa radical: no usar automóvil. Todo marcha bien hasta que una colección de autos viejos aparece en la casa de Sole y, con ellos, la inquietud de crear una empresa de taxis. Pero este hallazgo las conduce a una crisis mayor: bajo la cubierta de uno de los autos encuentran un cadáver. Con el mundo encima, se enfrentarán a cuestionamientos y certezas que van desde las preguntas más simples, hasta el valor de la amistad y la solidaridad en una Costa Rica convulsa atrapada en el racismo, la corrupción y la impunidad. —FICM


Observing youth subcultures in Latin America has become director Julio Hernández Cordón’s recurrent preoccupation. Young men and women living by their own rules in societies that fail to provide them with any certainty about the future populate his engrossing stories. —Carlos Aguilar, Remezcla

Filmography: Cómprame un revolver (2018), Te prometo anarquía (2015)