New Directors/New Films 2019 Shorts Program 1 Q&A

Simón Vélez López, Jacqueline Lentzou, Xavier Marrades, and Lucila Mariani discuss their short films at New Directors/New Films 2019.

Big Bridge / La máxima longitud de un puente
Simón Vélez López, Colombia/Argentina, 2018, 14m
Spanish with English subtitles
North American Premiere
After a daring dive in Colombia’s Cauca River, a young man steals a motorcycle to take his girlfriend for a ride in this subdued yet mesmerizing work.

Hector Malot: The Last Day of the Year / Ektoras Malo: I Teleftea Mera Tis Chronias
Jacqueline Lentzou, Greece, 2018, 23m
Greek with English subtitles
New York Premiere
A young woman spends New Year’s Eve reflecting on a foreboding dream in this wistful portrait of loneliness and alienation. Winner of the Leica Cine Discovery Prize at the 57th Cannes Critics’ Week.

Misericórdia
Xavier Marrades, Brazil/Spain, 2019, 21m
Portuguese with English subtitles
World Premiere
Filmed around Brazil’s Itaparica Island, this oneiric documentary evokes the rich, complicated ancestry of Bahia—considered the African heart of Brazil—through the dreams of its present-day inhabitants.

A Million Years
Danech San, Cambodia, 2018, 21m
Khmer with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Combining naturalism and dreamy stylization, this intoxicating, personal film follows a man and a woman as they wander through a rainforest.

Echoes / Resonancias
Lucila Mariani, Argentina, 2019, 15m
Spanish with English subtitles
North American premiere
In this ruminative snapshot, a swimmer with a clogged ear finds herself drawn back to the sea.

Celebrating its 48th edition in 2019, the New Directors/New Films festival introduces New York audiences to the work of emerging filmmakers from around the world. Throughout its rich, nearly half-century history, New Directors has brought previously little-known talents like Spike Lee, Chantal Akerman, Bi Gan, Valerie Massadian, Gabriel Mascaro, RaMell Ross, and Kelly Reichardt to wider audiences. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating a group of filmmakers who represent the present and anticipate the future of cinema: daring artists whose work pushes the envelope and is never what you’d expect. Presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is devoted to supporting the art and elevating the craft of cinema. The only branch of the world-renowned arts complex Lincoln Center to shine a light on the everlasting yet evolving importance of the moving image, this nonprofit organization was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international film. Via year-round programming and discussions; its annual New York Film Festival; and its publications, including Film Comment, the U.S.’s premier magazine about films and film culture, the Film Society endeavors to make the discussion and appreciation of cinema accessible to a broader audience, as well as to ensure that it will remain an essential art form for years to come.