Belgian co-production ‘La misteriosa mirada del flamenco’ (‘The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo’) by Chilean director Diego Céspedes made a strong impression on Thursday at Un Certain Regard, a section of the Cannes Film Festival that aims to promote bold, original works by lesser-known filmmakers.
This modern Western, co-produced by the Belgian company Wrong Men and supported by the Centre du cinéma et de l’audiovisuel of the Wallonie-Bruxelles Federation, highlights the discrimination faced by the gay community in Chile during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
The inspiration for the project dates back to Céspedes’ childhood. As a child, he often visited the hair salon where his mother worked alongside three gay men, one of whom died of HIV.
“I grew up with a mother haunted by HIV," says Céspedes, who has since come out as gay. "She watched a soap opera featuring the first HIV-positive character. She spoke about it so terribly that I was scared to watch. The idea of the disease frightened me.”
The film is set in the 1980s and uses the terminology of that era.
Céspedes is also in contention for the Caméra d’Or, an award for the best first film presented in the Official Selection, the Directors’ Fortnight, or the Critics’ Week.
