Program Note
An eight-year-old girl, Santa, lives with a loving mom and an abusive dad. After swallowing a yellow fish, she sets on a journey to bring her suffering mother to heaven, which she believes is at the end of the desert, by driving an old, broken down truck she bought from an old priest, and hopping on a bus full of female wrestlers with her mom aboard in a coffin. Would she succeed in her quest? Shot in Bolivia against a desert landscape, Alberto Sciamma's Cielo offers a perfect blend of fantasy and realism, featuring stunning cinematography and a diverse cast that includes a young girl, a peculiar priest, love-struck police officers, and a group of indigenous female wrestlers. The director effectively combines these off-the-wall characters to create a fairy-tale journey of magical realism that is truly remarkable, led by Fernanda Gutiérrez Aranda, whose excellent portrayal as Santa the girl captures the audience's heart. (Jongsuk Thomas NAM)