Carmita (NR)

synopsis

Directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas (Sand Dollars, Jean Gentil), Carmita tells the story of Carmen Ignarra, the beautiful actress once known as “Cuba's little princess,” who left the Caribbean island in the hopes of becoming a Hollywood star in the early 1950s. Her initial success was followed by a slow, painful decline as her jealous husband —a prominent Mexican producer—curtailed her career. Now 80 years old, Carmita lives forgotten in an old mansion in Monterrey, Mexico.

Recounting her life to Guzmán, who is actively present onscreen, she talks about the past, wasted talent, and lost loves. Carmita echoes Sunset Boulevard and Grey Gardens, blurring the faint border between fiction and non-fiction.