Lost Chapters
| Lost Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Los capítulos perdidos | |
| Directed by | Lorena Alvarado |
| Written by | Lorena Alvarado |
| Produced by | José Ostos, Lorena Alvarado, coproduce with Tyler Taormina and Emiliana Ammirata |
| Starring | Ena Alvarado, Ignacio Alvarado, Adela Rodríguez |
| Cinematography | José Ostos, Lorena Alvarado |
| Edited by | Lorena Alvarado |
Release date |
|
Running time | 67 min. |
| Country | Venezuela |
| Language | Spanish |
Lost Chapters (Spanish: Los capítulos perdidos) is a 2024 Venezuelan film written and directed by Lorena Alvarado.
Synopsis
[edit]After years abroad, Ena returns to Venezuela with a fragmented sense of self. At home, she finds her grandmother losing her grasp of reality. Meanwhile, her father spends his days looking for rare books in an attempt to safeguard his country's literary past. When Ena discovers a mysterious postcard inside a book, she embarks on a search across Caracas to uncover a forgotten writer, Rafael Bolívar Coronado. Her search gradually interweaves with her grandmother's memory loss and her father's quixotic dreams, as they all struggle to hold on to the past.[1][2]
Reception
[edit]Lost Chapters received critical acclaim following its premiere at the Marseille International Film Festival[3] and subsequent screenings at Locarno,[4] Gijón,[5] and Monterrey.[6] Critics praised Lorena Alvarado's delicate approach to themes of memory and cultural preservation, as well as the film's poetic cinematography and non-linear storytelling.
Mónica Delgado for Desistfilm highlighted Lost Chapters as a "deeply personal yet universally resonant" work, noting its ability to blend intimate family narratives with broader historical and cultural concerns. The review emphasized how Alvarado's direction captures the ephemeral nature of memory, particularly through the interplay between Ena's grandmother's fading recollections and her father's obsession with preserving literary relics of Venezuela's past.[7]
According to Pablo Gamba, Lost Chapters successfully balances documentary and fiction elements, creating a "circular structure" that mirrors the act of remembering and forgetting. The review noted that the film's emotional impact lies in its ability to make audiences reflect on the fragility of history and the importance of storytelling as a means of resistance.[8]
Awards
[edit]- 2024 Best Latin American Feature Film. Festival Internacional de Cine de Monterrey[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Festival Scope Pro". pro.festivalscope.com. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ Gorham, Luke (2024-07-01). "Lost Chapters — Lorena Alvarado [FIDMarseille '24 Review]". In Review Online. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ Film-documentaire.fr. "Lost Chapters". www.film-documentaire.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ "Locarno Film Festival · Los capítulos perdidos". Locarno Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2024-12-08. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ "Los capítulos perdidos | FICX – Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijón / Xixón". ficx.tv. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ a b "Premian a ganadores en la Gala de Clausura de ficmonterrey 2024 - ficmonterrey". 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ "LOCARNO 2024: LOS CAPÍTULOS PERDIDOS DE LORENA ALVARADO – desistfilm". Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ Gamba, Pablo (2024-07-07). "Un círculo que se fue rodando y Los capítulos perdidos" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-27.