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Preview: El Father Plays Himself (15*) + ScreenTalk with director Mo Scarpelli (via Zoom)

A man with grey hair and a beard lies in a hammock in foliage, in a still from El Father Plays Himself

Mo Scarpelli’s gripping film looks at the relationship between a father and son, but in no ordinary way. El father is making a film, playing a fictional version of himself – while his son directs him.

El father (Jorge Roque Thielen) is not an actor, but his son (Jorge Thielen Armand) has decided he’s the only person to play his fictionalised version of…his father, in the Venezuela-set La Fortaleza. But Roque Thielen doesn’t realise until filming begins that his character is himself, as seen by his son.

What Scarpelli captures expertly is a lovely, tender, and sometimes painful exploration of a complicated relationship, brought to the fore by her honest and open style, to create something highly unusual and special.
 
To discuss her latest work, director Mo Scarpelli (Frame by Frame, Anbessa) joins us live via Zoom for a ScreenTalk. 
 

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Barbican Cinema 3