LA FORTALEZA A film by Jorge Thielen Armand Venezuela, Colombia, France, Netherlands 108 min.2020 49th International Film Festival Rotterdam Tiger Competition
DIRECTOR Jorge Thielen Armand
WITH Jorge Roque Thielen Carlos Medina Yoni Naranjo Leudys Naranjo
PRODUCERS Rodrigo Michelangeli Manon Ardisson Jorge Thielen Armand Rodolfo Cova Zach LeBeau Kim Jackson
CO-PRODUCERS Felipe Guerrero Louise Bellicaud Claire Charles-Gervais Marleen Slot
PRODUCTION COMPANIES La Faena Mutokino In-Vivo Films Viking Film Ardimages UK Genuino Films
WITH THE SUPPORT OF Breaker World Cinema Fund Film Fond - Nouvelle-Aquitaine Proimágenes Colombia Tribeca Film Institute Latin America Fund BAFICI - Buenos Aires Lab, ARTE Cinéma International Prize Cine Qua Non Lab TIFF Writer's Studio Guadalajara IFF - Co-Production Meeting
The film overwhelms us in the roar of a tempest of love. It is a mutual gift and a Lazarean wager of immortality. The journey of a fleeting silhouette steeped in anger whose fury resonates in immense and indifferent landscapes. It is also a documentary about gold, expenditure, destruction, and a debilitating collective crisis. —Nicole Brenez
SYNOPSIS To escape the crisis in Venezuela, and his alcoholism, Roque retreats into the Amazon jungle to renovate a cabin he built during happier times. He struggles with feverish visions caused by alcohol abstinence, and his desire for redemption becomes distorted when he joins old friends to work in an illegal gold mine controlled by Colombian guerrillas. The violence required to work in the mine plunges Roque into a cycle of self-destruction that devours his interior. He will need the fortitude to get out and start anew.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE Inspired by the true stories of my father, I followed him to jungle to rebuild an abandoned tourist lodge—and to rebuild ourselves. Making the film became a way for my father and I to confront the distance between us, the pains of the past, and the inner violence this has unleashed. I set out in search of fortitude, to immortalize my father and a country I can no longer recognize in memories.
PRESS > A bold and distinctive directorial vision. Wendy Ide, Screen International > A solemn tale of exile and redemption. Jordan Cronk, Film Comment > A state of resurrection in stagnation, in emptiness, in antipodes. In its paradoxes resides the best cinema of Venezuela. Sergio Monsalve, El Nacional > Goes beyond the blend of documentary and fiction, to investigate how crisis situations affects the souls of those who live them. Pablo Gamba, Desistfilm > A tour de forcé of sensations.Dani Rodriguez, CineMaldito > Thielen Armand has tremendous efficiency in his storytelling style, which allows him to concentrate on the character study, rather than impose a plot. Kaleem Aftab, Cineuropa > Thielen Armand counterbalances the aspect of auto-fiction with a documentary camera that creates a disturbing atmosphere in the heart of the jungle. Cédric Lépine, Fiches du Cinéma > Completely original magic realism. Luca Bove, Taxi Drivers Italy
SCREENINGS (selection) 49thInternational Film Festival Rotterdam - Tiger Competition. Netherlands 51st Visions du Réel International Film Festival. Switzerland 25thBusan International Film Festival. Korea 58th Gijón International Film Festival. Spain 35th Guadalajara International Film Festival. Mexico 60th Cartagena International Film Festival. Colombia 64th Cork International Film Festival. Ireland 42nd Cairo International Film Festival. Egypt 42nd Havana International Film Festival. Cuba 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. USA
AWARDS Jury Prize. 29th Biarritz Amérique-Latine. France. Grand Prix Marchica Best Film.9thFestival de Cinéma et Mémoire Commune. Morocco Best Actor. 9th Festival de Cinéma et Mémoire Commune. Morocco Audience Award for Best Film. Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Quito. Ecuador Special Mention. 20th Rome Independent Film Festival. Italy Special Mention. 1st Master International Film Festival Yasmine Hammamet. Tunisia Best Lead Actor. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Venezuela Best Sound. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Venezuela Best Film. 10th Festival de Cine Entre Largos y Cortos de Oriente. Venezuela Best Production. 10th Festival de Cine Entre Largos y Cortos de Oriente. Venezuela Best Sound. 10th Festival de Cine Entre Largos y Cortos de Oriente. Venezuela Best Supporting Actor.16thFestival del Cine Venezolano. Venezuela Best Film. 1st Festival de la Crítica Cinematográfica de Caracas. Venezuela Best Director. 1st Festival de la Crítica Cinematográfica de Caracas. Venezuela Best Cinematography. 1st Festival de la Crítica Cinematográfica de Caracas. Venezuela Best Art Direction. Chacao Municipality Cinema Awards 2023. Venezuela Best Cinematography. Chacao Municipality Cinema Awards 2023. Venezuela Nominated for Best Latin American Film of 2020. 11th Cinema Tropical Awards. USA Nominated for the 2021 DGC Discovery Award. Director’s Guild of Canada. Nominated for Best Iberoamerican Film. 2022 Colibri Awards, Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences. Ecuador
