Spanish with English subtitles
With Daniela Valenciano, Leynar Gomez, Isabella Moscoso, Avril Alpízar, Adriana Álvarez, Carolina Fernández, Katia Arce
Filmmakers may be available for a Q&A via Skype. Speaker fee: $300. Inquire at FILMCLUB@PRAGDA.COM.
For thoughtful, demure young housewife Isa, life in a lush, postcard-perfect Costa Rican seaside village is far from anyone’s idea of a dream. She is being pressured by her intrusive and loudly opinionated in-laws to have another baby – a boy – even as her already cramped household struggles to stay afloat. She tends to the needs of her husband and two daughters while her own desires remain distant and ignored.
Isa finds herself suffocated by rigid gender roles and the cloistered, provincial thinking that comes with small-town life. Desperately imagining some other way of living—single, childless, desired—while growing increasingly tense towards those closest to her, Isa finds herself at a breaking point awakening to the possibilities of a life lived on her own terms, in this engrossing and intimate feature debut from writer/director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss.
Press
“A sensitive portrait of a mundane existence.
” – One Room with a View
“Surprising, imaginative and always convincing picture ideas.” – TIP
“The hesitant steps toward liberation of a young wife and mother are depicted with subtlety and sensitivity in The Awakening of the Ants.” – Jonathan Holland, The Hollywood Reporter
“The Awakening of the Ants is a strong portrait of womanhood undergoing fundamental change.” – Goombastomp
“Impressive and meaningful.” – The Upcoming
“A passionate and intense portrait.” – Filmuforia
“A quiet and utterly believable portrayal of a conflict that is widespread far beyond Costa Rica.” – World Film Reviews
“A very genuine and honest drama.” – Anthony Cullen, The mad movie man