Lucia Aleñar Iglesias’ Feature Debut ‘Forastera’ Set to Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival This September

Entertainment NewsIndependent FilmTIFFFilm FestivalFilmFilm InsightsCinema NewsInternationalTrailersUpcoming ReleasesNew ReleasesPremiere

Jul 25

Written By Baneet Sarai

Lucia Aleñar Iglesias’ ‘Forastera’ **Courtney of The Toronto International Film Festival**

Starring the Spanish up-and-comer Zoe Stein alongside the legendary Lluis Homar, Iglesias’ follow-up to her short film of the same name will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Los Angeles-based Spanish filmmaker Lucia Aleñar Iglesias’ atmospheric and powerful narrative feature debut will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Discovery section, with Paris-based sales company Alpha Violet picking up the international sales rights.

The film will follow Cata (Zoe Stein), a young woman whose family vacation is dramatically disrupted by the absurd and violent death of her grandmother, an act to which she is the only witness. As the strange summer unfolds, Cata begins to inhabit the role of her grandmother – or rather, this new role inhabits Cata – blurring the lines of reality and her family’s perceptions.

Described as an exploration of loss, memory, grief and identity, producers Marta Cruañas and Ariadna Dot describe the feature as “a story crafted with such bold mise-en-scène, yet with a subtlety that constantly reminds you that something is off. What starts as a summer ends in disquiet. A movie that seduces you with beauty, but slowly burns and unsettles.”

Iglesias has previously worked in the casting department for the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time, and line-produced for Academy Award winner Peggy Stern.

POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP

The eagerly anticipated follow-up to her short film of the same name (selected for the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2020 and nominated for a Gaudí Award), it has been shot in Mallorca and will star the Spanish up-and-comer Zoe Stein (Manticore), alongside legendary Goya award-winning actor Lluís Homar (Broken Embraces, Bad Education, Eva), as well as Núria Prims, Marta Angelat, Martina García, and the Swedish actor Nonni Ardal (Gaslight, Evil). It will feature an original score composed and produced by Anna von Hausswolff and Filip Leyman.