Clara Sola

There is something life-giving, magical even, in Clara’s hands. Disabled slightly by a crooked spine, and by a developmental delay that’s willfully unaddressed, Clara is now 40 and is believed to perform miracles. Cloistered by a loving, cautious mother who entrusts all to God, Clara’s saintlike status is a two-edged sword, allowing protection and inner divinity but outer suppression. Clara’s stirring sexual desire may resolve in her happiness, but it’s also a threat. A striking, singular, sensual debut feature by Costa Rican-Swedish filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.

‘I wrote the script with Maria Camila Arias. We were drawn to a mix of the many elements and themes that [shape] the world that Clara inhabits. There was Clara, inhabiting the space between the honesty and magic of nature and the more restrictive “human world” that demands for her to play a specific role, far away from her true self. We were also interested in how patriarchal norms were inherited from generation to generation disguised as tradition, even in households where no men were present. This sad phenomenon is one of the reasons the script came to be.’

Director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, from an interview with Women and Hollywood.