The Cow Who Sang a Song Into The Future

La vaca que cantó una canción sobre el futuro

63rd TIFF: Greek Premiere

In this mystical exploration of family relationships and fragile environments, magic realism meets ecological absurdism. When thousands of fish die in a polluted river in southern Chile, Magdalena, a woman long-deceased, emerges amongst their lifeless bodies. Magdalena encounters her widowed husband, sending him into a state of shock and prompting the return of their daughter, Cecilia. Magdalena’s presence and her effect on the environment stir curiosity and fear among her family. As the past comes into focus, mother and daughter are met with the opportunity to change the future. A beautifully eerie and resonant tale about motherhood and the natural world, a magical spell that encourages introspection while keeping us on our toes till the very end. The possibility of resurrection and healing emerges from a chorus of aquatic and bovine voices.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Francisca Alegría
Script: Francisca Alegría, Fernanda Urrejola, Manuela Infante
Cinematography: Inti Briones
Editing: Andrea Chignoli, Carlos Ruiz-Tagle
Sound: Javier Neira, Benoît Gargonne, Thomas Robert
Music: Pierre Desprats
Actors: Leonor Varela, Mía Maestro, Alfredo Castro, Marcial Tagle, Enzo Ferrada
Production: Cinéma Defacto, Wood Producciones
Producers: Tom Dercourt, Alejandra García
Co-production: Match Factory Productions, Jirafa Films, ZDF - das Kleine Fernsehspiel
Co-producers: Bruno Bettati, Andrés Wood, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Shrihari Sathe
Production Design: Bernardita Baeza
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Chile, France, USA, Germany
Production Year: 2022
Duration: 98΄
Contact: The Match Factory

Francisca Alegría

Francisca Alegría is an award-winning filmmaker who obtained her degree in Directing from the Universidad Católica de Chile and her M.F.A. in Screenwriting and Film Directing at Columbia University. Her short film And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow's Eye received the award for Best International Fiction Short Film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Best Latin American Short Film at Miami Film Festival and was selected at Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival. Alegría’s debut feature, The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and will premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Filmography

2010 On the Table (short)
2016 And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow's Eye (short)
2021 The Humming of the Beast (short)
2022 The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future