10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

Primero de Enero (2015 Feature Film)

Erika Bagnarello | Dominican Republic, Costa Rica | 2014 | 85 min | Spanish

Great road movie about children that also tackles tough adult themes. Crime, divorce and illegality are dealt with airily in the story about a boy who will stop at nothing to find his father’s stolen piano. Because if the piano comes back, his father is sure to follow.

January 1st deals with tough themes such as divorce, crime and social inequality in a surprisingly light fashion. This youth road movie is a beautiful Latin American coproduction with a cast and crew from, among other places, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.

Twelve-year-old Sebastián’s father has just left. Supposedly to go and work in the city, but everyone knows his parents have split up; his mother even has a new boyfriend. To get at the latter, Sebastián helps the local criminal break into his mother’s restaurant. However, to his shock, the thief makes off with much more than agreed including the much-loved piano, an heirloom of his father’s. Together with his best friend, Sebastián travels to the big city to get the piano back.

The boys’ journey is a dangerous, educational and cathartic one for the boy who, at the start of the film, mainly cared about his games console.

Place: The Cinemas 5

Date: 27 March 2015

Time: 16:15

Duration: 1:45

Place: The Cinemas 5

Date: 28 March 2015

Time: 18:30

Duration: 1:45

Place: The Cinemas 5

Date: 29 March 2015

Time: 13:45

Duration: 1:45

Year in
Festival

2015

Director

Erika Bagnarello

Camera

Mario Araya

Cast

Víctor Pintor
Paula Sánchez Ferry
Carlos Báez
Ximena Duque

Country

Dominican Republic
Costa Rica

Editor

Raúl Marchand Sánchez
Alberto Amieva

Language

Spanish

Length

85 min

Music

Usman Riaz

Production Company

Bonter Media

Production Design

Rafi Mercado

Sales

Bonter Media

Scenario

Erika Bagnarello

Sound Design

Christopher Foster

Year of Production

2014

Erika BAGNARELLO is een Costa Ricaanse schrijver-regisseur. Ze behaalde haar Master in filmproductie aan de Florida State University. Ze maakt zowel documentaires, fictiefilms als televisieseries en is oprichter van het productiebedrijf Costa Rica Filmworks.

 

Filmography

Flashes of Hope: Hibakusha Travelling the World (2009, doc), El hijo de la 40 (2009, short), Maras Ninis y Malandros (2011, doc), Primero de Enero/January 1st (2014)