A Film About Couples

(Una Película Sobre Parejas)

Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada / Dominican Republic / 2021 / 89 min
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  • Locarno Film Festival

    Open Doors Section

  • Gijón International Film Festival

    Best Spanish Feature, Best Script, Best director

  • Biarritz Latin-American Film Festival

    Critics Award, Special Mention for best acting

  • FICIC | Cosquín Film Fest

    Special Mention of the Jury

  • Roma International Film Festival

  • Miami Film Festival

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Spanish with English subtitles

Directed by Miriam Lies’ award-winning team, Natalia Cabral y Oriol Estrada, A Film About Couples is equal parts a candid exposition of the cinematic industry and a joyful exploration of marriage.

Natalia and Oriol are a couple of filmmakers in their thirties who have a little daughter named Lia. One day, they receive an offer to direct a documentary and they decide to make a film about couples in love. Natalia and Oriol interview many couples, always wanting to know how they get along and what their most typical problems are. But as filming progresses, wounds from their own relationship begin to open up, fights and doubts seem to be endless. But finishing the film will be their opportunity to reformulate their love for each other and their love for cinema.

The directors may be available for an in-person or virtual Q&A. A suggested speaker fee of $300 to be agreed directly with the filmmaker is recommended in all cases. Contact us at eric@pragda.com to learn more.

Press

“A true cinematic gem. Every moment releases a joyful and meditated reflection on the condition of filmmaking in today’s society.” – Mattia, Madmass Magazine

“This introspective look at the lives of a couple of directors testifies the fascinating creative power of cinema to organize the world in the form of a story in order to question its uniqueness at every moment.” – Cédric Lépine, Mediapart

“At the heart of this funny film lies a little story within the story. It’s all in knowing how to tell it, and this nice pair of filmmakers hit the bull’s eye, bringing more than a smile to the audience.” – Sarah Mataloni, Close Up Magazine

“It’s a fiction film about the shooting of a documentary and, at the same time, a documentary about the shooting of a fiction film. With a lot of humor and lucidity, the film demystifies the work of the cinema profession and reveals the realities and difficulties that exist today when filming in Dominican Republic.” – Nicolas Azalbert, Head of programming, Festival Biarritz Amérique Latine

“Probably my favorite Dominican comedy. Smart, funny, raw and completely true to its creators reality. Natalia and Oriol went all in to create the drama behind this docu-fiction experiment.” – Victor Pineyro, Seventh Art Studio

About the Director
Natalia Cabral (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Oriol Estrada (Capellades, Catalonia, Spain) are award-winning filmmakers. Their work lives on the borderlines of fiction and nonfiction. Natalia and Oriol graduated from the prestigious EICT V Cuban Film School. In 2012, they founded Faula Films to provide a creative platform for the development and co-production of independent filmmaking in the Caribbean.

Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada, Miriam Lies - A Film About Couples

Available for Q&As, Masterclasses, and workshops upon request, in English or Spanish.
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Their debut documentary film, You and Me (2014), premiered at Visions du Réel. It won several awards at Cartagena, Trinidad & Tobago, Havana, Márgenes, Austin, and Santo Domingo Film Festivals. Their second documentary film, Site of Sites (2016), received the support of DOCTV Latinoamérica. The film premiered at IDFA and screened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. It was an official selection at Biarritz, Cartagena, and Lima film festivals. The film was listed as one of the 25 best Latin American films of 2017 by Cinema Tropical.

Miriam Lies (2018) is the couple’s first fiction feature film. It was produced with the support of the Ibermedia program and the Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin America Fund. The film premiered in the official competition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. There, it obtained a special mention from the jury. Later, it was awarded the Golden Colon for Best Film at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival. Other awards include the ALMA Award for Best Spanish Film Script at the Gijón International Film Festival, Best Director at the Punta del Este Festival, and the SFCC Award from the French Critics at Cinélatino Toulouse.

Miriam Lies is considered among the most notable films of Latin American cinema. It is particularly outstanding within the showcase of Dominican Republic cinema. It won Best Film at the ADOCINE Awards and the ADOPRESCI Critics’ Award.

A Film About Couples (2021) screened at the Locarno, Rome, Miami, Hamburg, and Cartagena International Film Festivals. It won the best film award from the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma. It also received a special mention from the jury at the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival. Other awards include the Best Spanish Film and Best Director at the Gijón International Film Festival.

Notes on Film

“Spectators of our films often ask us what it’s like to co-direct as a couple. It’s a question whose answer changes according to the day. Sometimes we can share crazy anecdotes about our struggles of egos or about our bittersweet quests to achieve the films we set out to make. Other times we argue and wonder if it’s worth continuing. But like most couples, we move on, trying to show the best side of our relationship and our persona.

One day, we realized that it was very important for both of us to share the creative challenge of trying to make cinema with another person who is dissimilar from you because of differences of sex, culture, and personality and the vital challenge it can be if you are also in love with this person.”

– Natalia & Uri, Directors

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