PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Maria Clara Escobar, director of the film Desterro.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

An interview with filmmaker Maria Clara Escobar, whose latest film Desterro was selected for the Tiger Competition of the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam. Desterro also marks Escobar’s fiction feature directorial debut. In this interview, she shares her thoughts about some of the main themes dealt with in the movie, including communication and family. She also talks about some of the ways in which she worked with actors to get the right performances from them, how her background in documentary filmmaking influenced her work on this film and more.

Desterro: We follow the life of Brazilian couple Laura and Israël, who are in their mid-thirties and have a five-year-old son, Lucas. They live together, but seem to have lost interest in one another’s thoughts and cares. Their relationship seems headed for the rocks, and the only one who seems to still be looking for something from life is Lucas. Laura feels the warning signs of impending catastrophe. Then she disappears, and some time later Israël learns that Laura is dead, her body in Argentina. He doesn’t tell anyone – not even their son. As they were not married and have no savings, Israël faces the practical problems of bringing Laura’s body home. The last part of the film flashes back to Laura’s bus journey south and her encounters along the way with other (female) passengers, and particularly with a man who reminds her of her partner.

To discover more about the festival, click here.