Pelo malo / Bad Hair
Closing Night Film
A film by Mariana Rondón
“Mariana Rondon’s impressively multilayered drama brings a powerful specificity to the story of a boy and his embittered single mother.” – Jay Weissberg, VARIETY
Starring: Samuel Lange, Samantha Castillo
2013, Venezuela/Argentina/Peru/Germany, Drama
93 min, HD, Color
Spanish with English subtitles
This film was screened as a part of the 2014 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (CLAIFF17)
Junior is nine years old and has “bad hair.” He wants to straighten his hair for his yearbook picture so he can look like a fashionable pop singer. This elicits a tidal wave of homophonic panic in his hard-working mother, who finds it increasingly difficult to tolerate Junior’s fixation with his looks. The more he tries to look sharp to make his mother love him, the more she rejects him. Eventually, he is cornered, faced with a painful decision. PELO MALO has enjoyed success on the festival circuit, including the Toronto International Film Festival, and received the prestigious Concha de Oro for best film at the 2013 San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Junior es un niño que tiene 9 años y el “pelo malo.” Él se lo quiere alisar para la foto de su escuela, y así verse como un cantante de moda, lo que crea un enfrentamiento con su madre Marta, una joven viuda desempleada. Marta, desbordada por lo complicado que es sobrevivir en la caótica Caracas, cada vez tiene más dificultad para aguantar la fijación de Junior con su aspecto. Cuanto más guapo quiere parecer Junior para que su mamá lo quiera, más lo rechaza ella. Finalmente, Junior se verá obligado a tomar una dolorosa decisión. PELO MALO ha tenido mucho éxito en los festivales de cine, incluyendo el Festival de Cine Internacional de Toronto y el Festival de San Sebastián, donde recibió la prestigiosa Concha de Oro en 2013.
Regional Premiere
About the director
Mariana Rondón was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, and later graduated from the EICTV Film School in Cuba. Her first feature, AT MIDNIGHT AND A HALF (2000), co-directed by Marité Ugás, participated in more than 40 international film festivals. Her last film, POSTCARDS FROM LENINGRAD (2007), received 23 international awards, including the FIPRESCI at Kerala, and screened at the 12th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival in 2009.
Credits
Producer: Marité Ugás
Production Companies: SUDACA FILMS
Screenwriter: Mariana Rondón
Cinematographer: Micael Cajahuaringa
Editor: Marité Ugás
Sound Design: Lena Esquenazi
Music: Camilo Froideval
Cast: Samuel Lange, Samantha Castillo
Print Source: FiGa Films, contact@figafilms.com
