La perra

Frei nach Pilar Quintanas Roman setzt Sotomayor in der kargen, herausfordernden Landschaft von Santa María, einer einsamen Insel im Süden Chiles, ihre Exkursionen in das schroffe Gelände der inneren Zerrissenheit ihrer Protagonistinnen fort. Die Algenfischerin Silvia hat sich in ihrer eigenbrötlerischen Abgeschiedenheit eingerichtet, doch dann beginnt die ungestüme Findlings-Hündin Yuri ihren tristen Alltag aufzumischen. Durch sie wird Silvia mit ihren verlorenen Träumen und verdrängten Traumata konfrontiert. Bis endlich sich die Elemente umkehren und sogar Wasser Feuer fängt. Beim Festival in Cannes erhielt Yuri den Palm Dog Award. (Bernd Brehmer)

Silvia is a woman in her forties living in Santa Maria, a remote island in the Chilean Pacific. She has a loving relationship with a caring man, a job that sustains her and a simple yet welcoming home to return to after long days. One day, she brings home Yuri, an adorable stray puppy—and a true born star. With her boundless energy, Yuri brightens Silvia’s days, and the two form a profound bond. When Yuri disappears, only to return days later pregnant, Silvia is forced to confront the wounds she has kept buried. Dominga Sotomayor’s new film distinguishes itself through its profound, layered approach to characterisation. The evolving relationship between Silvia and Yuri defines them as individuals whose respective grasps of free will both mirror and challenge one another. Yuri becomes a catalyst for Silvia’s impulses and fears, compelling her to confront her traumas and contradictions as well as her ambiguous relationship to motherhood. Shot against a majestic, untamed landscape that seems to exert a magnetic pull on the camera, LA PERRA refuses to abide by the stagnant, Manichaean rhetoric surrounding expectations of women that too often inhabit our screens. (Rebecca De Pas)

Dominga Sotomayor: DE JUEVES A DOMINGO (2012), MAR (2014), TARDE PARA MORIR JOVEN (2018), CORRESPONDENCIA (2020, K, KO-REGIE), SIN TÍTULO (2021, K), LIMPIA (2025)