El Planeta is a dark comedy exploring contemporary poverty, female desire, and the complicated filial relationships of mothers and daughters. After her father’s death, Leo leaves her life as a fashion student in London and returns to her hometown of Gijón, Spain, where her mother is on the verge of eviction. The two survive by selling personal items online and running up tabs based on extensive lies. Their impending misfortune does not stop the pair from dressing up in their best fur coats, heading to the mall to sample makeup, and buying cute shoes (as long as they are returnable). Grifting their way to a stylish lifestyle beyond their means, their familial bond over common tragedy strengthens as evident doom nears.
El Planeta premiered at Sundance in 2021 and subsequently played at many other fine venues, including MoMA, Tate Modern and the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival.
EL Planeta by Amalia Ulman 2021, Spain/USA, 82 min., English spoken
El Planeta will be preceded by Triforium, a short film by Jayne Parker, which takes its name from the place where it was filmed: the triforium of London’s Westminster Abbey, a gallery hidden from view for 700 years. Accompanied by Laurence’s Crane’s music, the film holds the stillness and quietude of the triforium, the accumulation of centuries of ascending prayer.
Triforium by Jayne Parker 2021, UK, 7.25 min., no dialogue
AWL_047 EL Planeta
by Amalia Ulman
13 April 2022
start program: 20:30h
pre sale tickets: WORM
Boomgaardsstraat 71, Rotterdam