Focus on María Luisa Bemberg
“All of my protagonists are women who in some way break the mould and strive to live autonomously. Some fare better than others.”
Argentine director, producer and screenwriter, María Luisa Bemberg defied norms, censorship and (male) contemporaries in her home country and forged a career that spanned from 1971 to the early 1990s. Her films, often melodramas, offer distinctive feminist perspectives, sometimes drawing from Bemberg’s own upper-middle class background, and focusing on protagonists who reflect on and challenge their subordinate status within patriarchal society.
Invisible Women, along with Natalia Christofoletti Barrenha and Julia Kratje, present two newly restored films: Oscar-nominated and famously tragic Camila, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and Miss Mary, led by Julie Christie.
Camila
Based on the true story of Camila O’Gorman, a young woman from Buenos Aires raised within the confines of traditional upper-class values in the mid-19th century, who fell in love with Ladislao Gutiérrez, a Jesuit priest. Their impassioned affair compels the young couple to flee, in defiance of the government, family, and the church as they confront the forces of authority and tradition.
Notably, Bemberg also had to outpace the government and church, as she remarked: “Camila was a film that many directors before me had wanted to make. They sought permission from the national film institute, but due to the church’s significant influence in Argentina, were denied. But I didn’t ask for permission. And that’s why I succeeded.”
Event/ This screening was introduced by Camilla Baier, co-founder of Invisible Women, with BSL interpretation. You can read Camilla’s notes on María Luisa Bemberg’s Miss Mary and Camila here.
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