The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future

Introduction by JBFC Senior Film Programmer Monica Castillo

2022. 98 m. Francisca Alegría. Chile. Spanish. Rated NR.

Series

When thousands of fish die in a polluted river in southern Chile, Magdalena, a woman long-deceased, emerges amongst their lifeless bodies. When she reunites with her widowed husband, he falls into a state of shock, and their daughter Cecilia returns for this most unusual occasion. Magdalena’s presence and her effect on the environment stirs curiosity and fear among her family. As the past comes into focus, mother and daughter are met with the opportunity to change the future. The feature debut from former JBFC Artist-in-Residence Francisca Alegría is a magical realist family drama that wrestles with today’s ecological issues and explores the relationship between humans and the natural world around them.

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"Rather than let its timely concerns be embalmed in didacticism, Alegría has crafted a film about healing generational trauma through new modes of living and experiencing desire — of reshaping the world in a way that feels inclusive and expansive, and which does away with relics of a past that should be left to rot at the bottom of a river."
Manuel Betancourt, Variety

"Providing many questions and very few answers, Alegría and co-writers Fernanda Urrejole and Manuela Infante make a point to show that life can emerge from death, imploring the audience to stop fixating on the damages done in the past and focus on saving the present and future."
Rafael Motamayor, IndieWire