28/10/2024 - The Costa Rican director talks about her second feature, in which she delves into the private lives and sexuality of women who have been oppressed all their lives

Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, who rose to fame with her feature debut, Hormigas [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which was presented in the Berlinale Forum, decided to delve into the private lives and sexuality of middle-aged women who have been oppressed all their lives, homing in particularly on the words and glances of Ana (68 years old), Patricia (69) and Mayela (71). The end result, Memories of a Burning Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss
film profile], was world-premiered in the Berlinale Panorama earlier this year, where it scooped the Audience Award, and it is now in the middle of a fruitful festival run, during which it took home another Audience Award – that of the Busan Film Festival’s Flash Forward section. In addition, the film is representing Costa Rica in the Oscars race and for the Spanish Goya Awards. We chatted to the director about her feature, objectives and achievements.

Cineuropa: Your film touches on some very personal and emotional topics. What were the biggest challenges when it came to capturing your memories on the screen, and how did you strike a continual balance between objectivity and your own personal perspective?
Antonella Sudasassi Furniss: The movie is based on the stories of real women. It tells a kind of collective story, an endless stream of memories and recollections that are intertwined without representing any one woman in particular, while at the same time reflecting the lives of many. From the moment I sit down to talk to them, it starts to be permeated by my subjectivity; it’s impossible for me not to exist in the film. I am the one listening and determining the very non-coincidental fate of what to include in the movie. Even if what we hear are their real voices, everything – absolutely everything – is filtered through my gaze. Any act that looks to tell another person’s story inevitably passes through the filter of our subjectivity. Perhaps the most complex thing for me was striking the balance – making sure the film had the ability to generate empathy, to make people laugh, to be moving, but also ensuring that it would allow us to confront that past, and even the present, that’s still so violent.

What do you hope the audience will take away from your work, and how would you like it to connect with viewers from different cultures?
I would love it if the film kept on sparking conversations or invited us, in some way, to look deeper into our own family histories and to revisit our female lineage. The conversation we can have with our elders, that invaluable oral wisdom that we carelessly throw away again and again, has the infinite ability to remind us where we come from. In many ways, this film seeks to remember so as not to forget.

What did winning this prize at a prestigious festival such as Busan mean to you, and how do you think it will have an impact on your future career?
I am extremely touched to think that a film from Costa Rica can resonate with the South Korean audience. I think there is no form of recognition more beautiful than that of the audience. The entire cast and crew are immensely grateful for this prize. It’s also still very striking that audiences from such different backgrounds can connect with the film in this way. It means that the past of many of our mothers and grandmothers can be found and reflected in the stories we see on screen. Women’s life experiences recur, whether they be beautiful or uncertain ones, but also those we might think would be consigned to the past, but which are sadly still rearing their heads today. Personally, I find it gives me a lot of food for thought.

(Translated from Spanish)