Part of the Global series at this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival, the Mexico-import CORINA by filmmaker Urzula Barba Hopfner jumped into my spirits almost immediately with the music beat that that opens the movie!
About: Corina is a young woman who, for the past 20 years, has rarely left her home except to work at a publishing house in her neighborhood. After making a serious mistake with the end of the company’s most famous book saga, Corina must overcome her fears with the help of Carlos and embark on a journey in search of a mysterious writer to save her job and the whole company.
Reaction: This is a lovely and quite involving human drama about a big book nut who goes through quite the personal adventure. Immediately grabbing me from its first few scenes, including a great tracking shot of Corina as she ventures outside and worries about everything around her, CORINA becomes such a unique concept with an outstanding lead performance by Naian González Norvind as our title character, who is very complicated with her own quirks, but also quite fascinating and original. What I especially liked is how the narration also guides us through her personal journey to find this writer who can help her out, and the journey she goes through interacting with everyone around her. This is so gorgeously made and such an enjoyable experience throughout, and while this is part of the Global section and will typically fall through the cracks of many’s schedule, DO seek out CORINA at the fest if you can as I want it to get more attention (which is the whole point of film festivals)!
This is one of the many movies playing in this year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival. For more information on the festival, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!