In a collapsing Caracas, Adelaida buries her mother and returns home to find it seized by a violent militia. As society crumbles around her, she must risk everything — even her identity — to survive. A powerful, urgent human drama.
In the midst of the heightened tensions of 2017 between the Venezuelan government and its political opponents, It Would Be Night in Caracas closely follows a few days in the life of Adelaida (Natalia Reyes, also at the Festival in the Colombian film Noviembre), as she returns to her home after burying her mother, only to find it seized by a corrupt female militia led by the ruthless Mariscala (Sheila Monterola).
In the aftermath of a chaotic night of violence that sees war unleashed in her very neighbourhood, Adelaida is left stranded in a nearby apartment, one located across the hallway from her own. Also sheltering here is Santiago (Moisés Angola), a former revolutionary student who has been coerced into being part of the paramilitary civilian units who are terrorizing citizens. The two have to hide to survive, and together find some common ground as they work to comprehend the full extent of the social collapse around them.
Directors Marité Ugás and Mariana Rondón — who was at the Festival in 2013 with the memorable Bad Hair — up the ante of current Venezuelan cinema by delivering an unflinching look at an extremely complex situation. As civil rights are systematically forsaken, Adelaida and Santiago deal with fear and the erasure of their humanity in different ways, while hope for a different future seems to be more elusive than ever.
DIANA CADAVID
Screenings
Scotiabank 9
TIFF Lightbox 2
Scotiabank 4
Scotiabank 4