JD Linville Zurich native Caterina Mona will bring her directorial debut “Semret” to the 75th Locarno Film Festival where it screens at the city’s Piazza Grande, an outdoor venue traditionally reserved for more popular plays.
The film, which is being sold by German sales outfit Pluto Film, follows the difficult path to healing for the titular character of Semret: a reclusive immigrant mother from Eritrea, now living and working in Zurich.
Between her difficulties with her daughter’s coming-of-age and her challenging career at a hospital, Semret must take down her walls in order to let others in.“Semret” stars British newcomer Lula Mebrahtu (alongside Tedros Teclebrhan and Hermela Tekleab), whose understated physicality in the role of Semret expertly belies the violence of the character’s trauma as Semret moves through scenes with a palpable past.
The dialogue in “Semret” bounces between Swiss-German and Tigrinya, continuing a trend toward multilingual European co-productions.
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