Looking for a solid companion film to 2018’s “Roma” — the critically-lauded and heavily awarded (including the Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Golden Globe Awards)? Then you will want to see “The Chambermaid" — a 2019 film being shown as a part of the
Chiaroscuro International Film Series at UICA.
In her feature debut, theater director turned cinema auteur Lila Avilés has created a visually poetic look at the daily work life of Eve (Gabriela Cartol), a chambermaid at a luxurious Mexico City hotel.
And like “Roma,” this Spanish language film offers rare and intimate personal access to the insights that Eve ponders as she responds to the people, objects, and real-life situations she discovers throughout her workday.
“The small details form the bulk of Lila Avilés style, with perfect recreations of different social classes — a rarity in Mexican cinema,” writes critic Alonso Díaz de la Vega of
El Universal.
“The Chambermaid” kicks off the 14th Chiaroscuro International Film Series, is organized around their 2020 theme of Together, and will feature five films over the next three months from countries to which the city of Grand Rapids has a relationship via our city’s sister city program.
Immediately after the film is a panel discussion with a film scholar and history/culture representative. In addition, the organizers always host a special reception with complimentary food and beverages that reflect the regional cuisine of the film's origin.
Please use this
link to view the trailer for “The Chambermaid.”
As always, the Chiaroscuro International Film Series is free and open to the public.