Memories of a Burning Body
In a lyrical and intimate way, director Antonella Sudasassi (SIFF 2019’s The Awakening of the Ants) exalts the body of mature women and their sexuality in the broadest of senses so everyone, regardless of gender identity or age, can question their own notions of pleasure and desire.
Director/Writer Antonella Sudasassi Furniss scheduled to attend.
*Restricted to audiences in WA State.
“Intelligent, resilient and incredibly sincere, the voices inhabiting this film show us that it’s never too late to reinvent ourselves and to finally take back control of our destiny.”—Giorgia Del Don, Cineuropa
Ana, Patricia and Mayela were raised in a repressive era where sexuality was taboo, and they were forced to find the meaning of femininity and their roles as women through unspoken rules and implicit impositions. But how do they feel now? How have their desires and pleasure evolved through the years? Have they changed? We get to hear their brave voices embodied in a single 65-year-old woman, played masterfully by actress Sol Carballo, who inhabits their kaleidoscopic lives and intertwines their memories, secrets and hidden desires. Director and writer Antonella Sudasassi (The Awakening of the Ants, Best Ibero American Film at SIFF 2019) blends real testimonies with very effective reenactments of moments from all three women’s lives. But the poignancy of this very unique exploration, winner of the Audience Award in the Panorama Section at the Berlin Film Festival this year, is in how these women understand and enjoy their sexuality today, when the rest of the world thinks they no longer exist, when their wrinkles, gray hairs, and aging bodies are questioned and dismissed as no longer desirable. In a lyrical and intimate way, the film exalts the bodies of women. Their sexuality becomes a stimulating space where everyone, regardless of gender identity or age, can question their own notions of pleasure and desire.
- Original Language Title: Memorias de un cuerpo que arde
- Director: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss
- Principal Cast: Sol Carballo, Paulina Bernini, Juliana Filloy
- Premiere Status: North American
- Country: Costa Rica, Spain
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 90 min.
- Producer: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, Manrique Cortés Castro, Estephania Bonnett
- Screenplay: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss
- Cinematographers: Andrés Campos Sánchez
- Editors: Bernat Aragonés
- Music: Juano Damiani
- Website: Official Film Website
- Awards: Berlin Film Festival 2024 (Panorama Audience Award)
- Filmography: The Awakening of the Ants (2019)
- Language: Spanish
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- International Sales: Bendita Film Sales