I Have Electric Dreams

I Have Electric Dreams (Spanish: Tengo sueños eléctricos) is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film directed by Valentina Maurel, starring Reinaldo Amien Gutiérrez, Daniela Marín Navarro, Vivian Rodriguez, Adriana Castro García and Jose Pablo Segreda Johanning. The film produced by Gregoire Debailly and Benoit Roland is a co-production of Costa Rica, Belgium and France.[1] It revolves around a young girl Eva, who lives with her mother, her little sister and their cat. The film captures the thin line between love and hate, in a world where aggression and rage intertwined with the vertigo of female sexual awakening.[2] It premiered at the 75th Locarno Film Festival on 8 August 2022,[3] where it won the Pardo for Best Direction, Pardo for Best Actress and Pardo for Best Actor.[4]

I Have Electric Dreams
Promotional release poster
SpanishTengo sueños eléctricos
Directed byValentina Maurel
Written byValentina Maurel
Produced by
  • Benoit Roland
  • Grégoire Debailly
Starring
  • Reinaldo Amien Gutiérrez
  • Daniela Marín Navarro
  • Vivian Rodriguez
  • Adriana Castro García
  • Jose Pablo Segreda Johanning
CinematographyNicolás Wong Díaz
Edited byBertrand Conard
Production
companies
  • Wrong Men
  • Geko Films
Distributed byCinéart
Release date
  • 8 August 2022 (2022-08-08) (Locarno)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
  • Costa Rica
  • Belgium
  • France
LanguageSpanish

It was selected as the Costa Rican entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.[5]

Cast edit

  • Reinaldo Amien Gutiérrez as Martín
  • Daniela Marín Navarro as Eva
  • Vivian Rodriguez as Anca
  • Adriana Castro García as Sol
  • Sarah Lefèvre
  • José Pablo Segreda Johanning

Release edit

It premiered at the 75th Locarno Film Festival on 8 August 2022, where it won the Pardo for Best Direction, Pardo for Best Actress and Pardo for Best Actor.[6] In September 2022, It made to 'Latin Horizons (Horizontes Latinos)' section of 70th San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it won Horizontes Award.[7] It also made it to 'World Cinema' section of 27th Busan International Film Festival and was screened on 6 October 2022.[8] In November 2022, it was featured in 'International Competition' section of 53rd International Film Festival of India,[9] where it won Golden Peacock for Best Film and Best Actress Award.[10] In December it was invited to the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival and was screened on 17 December 2022.[11] It was also invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Competition fiction section, where it was screened on 11 August 2023.[12]

Reception edit

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.[13]

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote "an auspicious debut feature from Costa Rican writer-director Valentina Maurel".[14] It has been reviewed by Neil Young of Screen Daily, who wrote of "the tough, sensual, spiky feature-length debut by Costa Rican writer-director Valentina Maurel".[1]

Sequel edit

In November 2022, Maurel announced that she was writing a sequel, which would focus on the mother-daughter relationship between Eva and Anca. She noted that the follow-up would include "complex characters and maybe a little bit of a raw take on relationships between women."[15]

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Locarno Film Festival 13 August 2022 Golden Leopard Valentina Maurel Nominated [14]
Best Direction Award Won
Best Actor Award Reinaldo Amien Gutiérrez Won
Best Actress Award Daniela Marín Navarro Won
Sarajevo Film Festival 19 August 2022 Special Award for the Promotion of Gender Equality I Have Electric Dreams Nominated [16]
San Sebastián International Film Festival 24 September 2022 Horizontes Award Won [17]
Film Fest Ghent 22 October 2022 Best Film Nominated [18]
Mar del Plata International Film Festival 13 November 2022 Best Latin-American Film Nominated [19]
FIPRESCI Prize Won
FEISAL Award Won
International Film Festival of India 28 November 2022 Golden Peacock (Best Film) Won [20][21][22]
IFFI Best Actor Award (Female) Daniela Marín Navarro Won
Palm Springs International Film Festival 16 January 2023 Best Ibero-American Film I Have Electric Dreams Nominated [23]
Cleveland International Film Festival 1 April 2023 New Direction Award Nominated [24]
Guadalajara International Film Festival 9 June 2023 Iberoamerican Competition – Best Film Won [25]
Lima Film Festival 18 August 2023 Best Film Nominated [26]
Best Debut Won
ECRAN Award for Best Direction of Debut or Second Feature Film in the Fiction Competition Valentina Maurel Won
NUNA Award for Best Latin American Female Director in Competition Won
Platino Awards 20 April 2024 Best First Feature Film I Have Electric Dreams Pending

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Young, Neil (18 August 2022). "'I Have Electric Dreams': Sarajevo Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. ^ "I Have Electric Dreams". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Concorso internazionale: Tengo sueños eléctricos (I Have Electric Dreams)". Locarno Festival. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. ^ Ntim, Zac (13 August 2022). "Locarno Film Festival Winners: 'Rule 34' Takes Golden Leopard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. ^ Bermúdez, José (4 October 2023). "Tengo sueños eléctricos representante por Costa Rica para la 96ª edición de los Premios Oscar y en la 38ª edición de los premios Goya" [I have electric dreams representing costa rica for the 96th edition of the oscar awards and the 38th edition of the goya awards.]. Centro Costarricense de Producción Cinematográfica (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  6. ^ Jordan Raup (6 July 2022). "Locarno Film Festival Unveils 2022 Lineup". The Film Stage. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Horizontes Latinos. 2022. 70th Edition". Donostia Zinemaldia. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. ^ "I Have Electric Dreams". Busan International Film Festival. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. ^ "I Have Electric Dreams". IFFI Goa. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Spanish Film 'I Have Electric Dreams' by Costa Rican film maker Valentina Maurel bags Golden Peacock for its Electrifying Portayal of Passage into Adulthood". PIB. 28 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via press release.
  11. ^ "Cinema International: I Have Electric Dreams". Kolkata International Film Festival. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Tengo sueños eléctricos" [I Have Electric Dreams]. 27 PUCP Lima Film Festival (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  13. ^ "I Have Electric Dreams (2022, Drama)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  14. ^ a b Lodge, Guy (13 August 2022). "Provocative Brazilian Film 'Rule 34' Wins the Top Prize at Locarno Film Festival". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  15. ^ https://variety.com/2022/film/global/valentina-maurel-costa-rica-i-have-electric-dreams-thessaloniki-film-festival-1235430235/
  16. ^ Dalton, Ben (19 August 2022). "Croatian drama 'Safe Place' leads Sarajevo Film Festival winners". Screen Daily. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ Lodge, Guy (24 September 2022). "Colombian Film 'Kings of the World' Tops San Sebastian Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Film Fest Gent 2022: Toveren met licht en veerkracht" [Film Fest Gent 2022: Magic with light and resilience]. DeWereldMorgen (in Dutch). 29 September 2022. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Festival de Cine de Mar del Plata: todos los ganadores de los premios independientes". La Voz (in Spanish). 13 November 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  20. ^ Rosser, Michael. "Costa Rica's 'I Have Electric Dreams' wins best film at International Film Festival of India". Screen Daily. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  21. ^ Jhunjhunwala, Udita (28 November 2022). "'I Have Electric Dreams,' 'No End' Win Top Prizes at International Film Festival of India". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  22. ^ Malkarnekar, Gauree. "Costa Rican coming-of-age film wins Golden Peacock as Iffi ends". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  23. ^ Haring, Bruce (15 January 2023). "'Saint Omer' Takes Top Honors At 34th Palm Springs Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Awards & Competitions | CIFF 47". CIFF. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  25. ^ "TERMINA FICG38 ENTRE APLAUSOS Y EL ESTRENO DEL CORTOMETRAJE '27'". Guadalajara International Film Festival (in Spanish). 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  26. ^ "¡Estos son los ganadores del 27 Festival de Cine de Lima PUCP!". festivaldelima.com (in Spanish). 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  27. ^ "'La sociedad de la nieve' lidera las nominaciones de los Premios Platino del Cine Iberoamericano 2024". Cinemanía. 14 March 2023 – via 20minutos.es.

External links edit