La Civil (2023)
Director: Teodora Ana Mihai Run Time: 140 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2021
Starring: Álvaro Guerrero, Arcelia Ramírez, Ayelén Muzo, Jorge A. Jimenez, Juan Daniel Garcia Treviño
Country: Belgium, Romania, Mexico
Language: Spanish
About the film:
Un Certain Regard Prize of Courage, 2021 Cannes Film Festival
The story of Cielo, a mother whose daughter is abducted by a criminal gang in Northern Mexico. As the authorities fail to offer support in the search, Cielo takes matters into her own hands. She begins her own investigation and earns the trust and sympathy of Lamarque, an unconventional army Lieutenant working in the region. Cielo’s collaboration with Lamarque pulls her further into a vicious cycle of violence, transforming her from a housewife into avenging activist.
“Teodora Miha imbues this harrowing tale of a mother’s search for justice with a documentarian’s gaze, in a solidly made descent into every parent’s worst nightmare”
The story was inspired by true events.
About the filmmaker:
Teodora Ana Mihai was born in Bucharest, under Ceausescu’s regime. In 1989 she joined her parents who had fled to Belgium the year before. She discovered her love for cinema as a high school student in San Francisco, California and went on to study film at Sarah Lawrence College, in upstate New York. Upon returning to Belgium, she started working in the industry as a script supervisor and assistant director. However, after several years on diverse film sets, she decided to dedicate herself to her own film projects.
Her debut documentary Waiting for August (2014) was awarded with over 10 international prizes (including Best Feature Documentary at Karlovy Vary IFF and Hot Docs) and was nominated for the European Film Awards. She recently directed her first fiction feature, La Civil (2023). For the screenplay, she collaborated with award-winning Mexican novelist Habacuc Antonio De Rosario as part of Torino Film Lab’s ScriptLab program. She was also selected to participate with this project at the Cinéfondation Residence, for the 2017-2018 winter session.
Teodora Ana Mihai’s films take on the challenge of striking a balance between social relevance and audiovisual poetry.
See our upcoming films