10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

La camarista (The Chambermaid) (2019 Feature Film)

Lila Avilés | Mexico | 2018 | color | DCP | 102′ | Spanish | e.s.

A charming, captivating drama about a chambermaid at an upmarket hotel, who seems invisible to the rich people whose rooms she cleans. Eve (Gabriela Cartol) tries to escape poverty by going back to school and starting new friendships, but that is easier said than done in this demanding, poorly paid job.

Chambermaid Eve is one of the ‘invisible’ staff at an upmarket hotel in Mexico City. Behind the scenes of this huge glass skyscraper lies a disconcerting microcosm inhabited by toiling employees. Eve literally spends day and night there because she doesn’t have a shower at home. The film reveals all the hotel’s nooks and crannies; only the lives of the rich that play out in the rooms remain a mystery. Eve gets an inkling from the items the guests leave behind.

In her feature film debut, Lila Avilés manages to portray the experiences of a hardworking woman in Mexico City in a particularly moving, yet subtle manner. Avilés has a background in acting and this helps her get the most out of Gabriela Cartol as the quiet chambermaid. This charming, captivating drama about the chasm between rich and poor shows Eve attempting to escape poverty; easier said than done in this demanding, poorly paid job.

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 11 April 2019

Time: 22:15

Duration: 1:05

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 11 April 2019

Time: 22:15

Duration: 1:05

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 11 April 2019

Time: 22:15

Duration: 1:05

Year in
Festival

2019

Director

Lila Avilés

Camera

Carlos Rossini

Cast

Gabriela Cartol
Teresa Sánchez

Country

Mexico

Editor

Omar Guzmán

Language

Spanish

Length

102′

Producer

Lila Avilés
Tatiana Graullera

Production Company

Limerencia

Year of Production

2018

Lila AVILÉS (1982, Mexico) brak door als theatermaker en -actrice. Ze zette haar carrière voort als regisseur van een reeks korte films, waaronder Déjà vu (2016), La fertilidad de la tierra (2016) en Nena (2016). Een korte versie van haar speelfilmdebuut La camarista werd geselecteerd voor Los Cabos Works in Progress. Het eindresultaat ging in wereldpremière op het Toronto International Film Festival.

 

Filmography

Mi vida en barba (2015, short), Limerencia (2015, short), Déjà vu (2016, short), Reconstrucción (2016, short), La fertilidad de la tierra (2016, short), Bonitas (2017, short), Nena (2017, short), La camarista/The Chambermaid (2019)