ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
At the superstitious fringes of South America, a pair of siblings must survive the inhumanity of civil war—and a deteriorating grip on reality—to investigate the disappearance of their mother.

SYNOPSIS
Fade in on an isolated rural village somewhere along the border of a nameless South American nation. This is a community scorched by guerrilla warfare and hundreds of unsolved disappearances; where folk superstition in witches and dark spirits reigns over everyday life. Hope feels nonexistent.

Luisa is a fierce, socially-maladjusted teen who escapes her harsh reality by daydreaming of enlisting in the army. But when her mother does not come home one night, Luisa is left behind—trapped—as the sole caretaker of her erratic younger brother, Jairo.

She sets out on a single-minded mission to discover what really happened to her mother, and salvage any hope of escaping this rural hellhole. But the more she searches for the truth, the more the mysteries of their community thicken. Making matters worse, Luisa’s sanity disintegrates as she grapples with eerie hallucinations and visions of the disappeared. Imagination and reality collide again when an injured guerrilla stumbles onto their farmstead, suddenly putting both siblings in the crosshairs of El Comandante: A deceptively charismatic soldier—and family friend—who will do whatever it takes to keep his secrets buried.

To salvage their humanity, restore their relationship, and unravel the mystery of their mother, Luisa and Jairo will be forced to confront their own darkest impulses. But even if they make it out alive, what kind of world will be waiting for them on the other side?

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Feature

DIRECTOR Juan Felipe Zuleta
SCREENWRITER Leland Frankel
PRODUCER Chad Shields, Masha Leonov, Henry Rincon, Leland Frankel, Juan Felipe Zuleta

The Film Collaborative (TFC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs and services for independent filmmakers. TFC’s federal tax ID number is 32-0295081. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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