Peruvian Film Screening 3/25

Tuesday, March 25 | 7:30pm | McConomy Auditorium, CMU's University Center
5000 Forbes Avenue

Peru's 2014 Oscar Entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Award

Event Includes: Post-screening Q&A with Director Adrián Saba at both screenings, and a reception at the CMU screening
Co-sponsored and presented in conjunction with: The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Carlow University, and Point Park University

"A controlled, stripped-down approach pays off in an affecting two-hander that's set during what feels like the end of the world." —The Hollywood Reporter

The Cleaner (El Limpiador) takes us into a world of urban desolation. Lima, Peru serves as the location for a fatal epidemic, in which human corpse disposal constitutes the protagonist's daily work life. Newcomer director Adrián Saba creates a bleak yet visually striking atmosphere, bringing cinematographic beauty to dark subject matter. Long, static takes frame a variety of spaces from claustrophobic interiors to panoramic shots of Peruvian landscape. Along with an ambient musical score, stunning visual references to astronomy further recall science fiction, blurring the line between a habitable Earth and a faraway planet. While such an apocalypse is fictitious, The Cleaner transforms the metropolitan setting of contemporary Lima into a deserted and haunting backdrop. This seemingly doomed tale of work, however, is not one without hope.

Awards

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- Winner of the New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival
- Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2012 Transilvania International Film Festival
- Winner of the New Directors Award Special Mention at the 2012 San Sebastian International Film Festival
- Winner of the Best First Work Special Mention at the 2012 Havana Film Festival
- Nominated for the New Directors Competition Gold Hugo Award at the 2012 Chicago International Film Festival

Director

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Adrián Saba is a Spanish-born filmmaker who earned a film degree from Hofstra University on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2010. His first feature film, The Cleaner (El Limpiador), has been shown at festivals around the world, winning accolades such as the New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Jury's Special Mention at the 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival. The Cleaner was also selected as Peru's 2014 Oscar entry for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category. In 2011, Saba founded his own production company called Flamingo Films. He is currently developing his next screenplay as a fellow in the highly selective Cinefondation Residence Program, which is organized by the Cannes Film Festival.