Primas
A film by Laura Bari
Two teenage cousins in Argentina come of age together, overcoming the heinous acts of violence that interrupted their childhoods.
Canada/Argentina | 2018 | 95 minutes | Color | DVD | Spanish | Subtitled | Order No. 181245
SYNOPSIS
PRIMAS is an evocative and poetic portrait of two Argentine teenage cousins who come of age together as they overcome the heinous acts of violence that interrupted their childhoods.
When Rocío was 10 years old, she was dragged from her bike by a stranger, raped, set on fire and left for dead. Now a teenager, she still grapples with memories of the nightmarish assault that left her body scarred. Together with her cousin Aldana, who was sexually abused for years by her own father, she lives, laughs and shares her story. Traveling through Argentina and Montreal, the two cousins embark upon a program of theater, dance, and circus that helps them process complex emotions. Little by little, they manage to rebuild the lives that were so brutally stolen from them and free themselves from the shadows of their past.
A humanistic exploration of familial love, creativity, and courage in the wake of sexual violence, PRIMAS is a moving tribute to the deep strength of resilient women.
PRESS
"Primas is a powerfully simple and quietly devastating testament to its subjects’ strength. It’ll stay with you."
"A humanistic, soulful gem."
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- True Life Fund Recipient, True/False Film Festival
- People's Choice Award, Mar del Plata
- Love & Change Jury Award, Istanbul Film Festival
- DOK.fest Munchen SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit Award Nominee
- International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
- One World Film Festival
- Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival
- Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
- DOXA Documentary Film Festival
- Guadalajara Film Festival
- Thessaloniki Film Festival
- One World Film Festival Prague
- International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
- HotDocs Film Festival
- Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM)
- DOXA Vancouver International Documentary Festival
- Lima International Film Festival
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Laura Bari
Fascinated by singularity and difference, laura bari choses film as a way to merge arts, culture, education and mental-health issues. Her films aim to consolidate the split between the real and the imaginary as an integral part of the human condition; particularly, of the everyday heroes, protagonists she chooses. Their universe inspires her to tell stories that are beautiful and ugly, despairing and joyful, necessary and uncertain. With PRIMAS (Nov. 2017) she completes a trilogy of feature documentary films, (ANTOINE - 2009; ARIEL - 2013); not only, to build a zone of common consciousness but also to allow the process of metamorphosis-trough-art, be true. (2/19)
RELATED LINKS
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Women & Hollywood: Interview with Filmmaker Laura Bari
Hot Docs 2018 Women Directors: Meet Laura Bari — “Primas”
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Vox Magazine Review
True/False film review: Primas
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Primas at IDFA
Film profile on IDFA
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KBI Radio interview with filmmaker Laura Bari
Family with Laura Bari (PRIMAS)
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Columbia Missourian Review
Subjects of True/False film share their experiences in building resilience
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Primas at True/False 2018
TRUE/FALSE 2018 TRUE LIFE FUND FILM: PRIMAS
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PRIMAS on Twitter
Follow the film on Twitter
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Offiicial Site
Primas website
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PRIMAS on Facebook
Connect with the film on Facebook
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Four Wives – One Man
From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband.
Persson’s camera unobtrusively and beautifully captures the range of the family’s interactions – from peaceful, pastoral scenes of a family picnic, to the temporary chaos caused by a broken faucet in the kitchen, to a furtive, whispered conversation between two wives about the latest beating. The women’s work – making bread, weaving carpets, milking and herding the sheep – provide the background to their frank conversations. Avoiding sensationalism and sentimentality, this film provides unique insights into the practice of polygamy and its effect on the women involved.
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