Programs - Filmmaker in Focus: Lucrecia MARTEL

Zama

11/28(Fri)18:20 -Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho

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Taiwan / 2025 / 65min
Director:TSAI Ming-Liang

Set at the end of the 18th century in a far-flung part of Spanish-ruled South America, the film follows Don Diego de Zama, a once-decorated officer of the Spanish crown now reduced to the role of a colonial administrator. He waits interminably for a letter from the Spanish king granting him a transfer—either so he can reunite with his wife and child in Buenos Aires or be elevated to a more prestigious post. However, the longer the letter doesn’t arrive and time drags on this idle, corrupt environment, Zama grows increasingly anxious about his uncertain future, trapped in a feeling of stagnation. As his hopes of both home and promotion fade into despair, he volunteers for a dangerous expedition, dreaming of striking it rich. Will this final attempt to reclaim a long-sought normal life bring him what he seeks? Premiered out of competition at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and was Argentina's official entry for Best International Feature at the 90th Academy Awards. Pedro Almodóvar was a co-producer.

This film will be screened with Japanese subtitles only.

Photo by ©Eugenio Fernández Abril

Director:TSAI Ming-Liang

Born in 1966 in Salta, Argentina, Lucrecia Martel studied film and audiovisual arts in Buenos Aires. Her short “Dead King”(1995) won Best Short Film at the Havana Film Festival. Her debut feature “La Ciénaga” (2001) received the Alfred Bauer Prize at Berlinale and the Sundance/NHK Award, marking her as a key figure of the New Argentine Cinema. “The Holy Girl” (2004) and “The Headless Woman” (2008) premiered in Competition at Cannes, while “Zama” (2017) received major awards at the Argentine Academy. Her first documentary, “Landmarks” (2025), developed over a decade, premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Schedule

11/28(Fri)18:20 -

Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho

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