Two Irenes

Fabio Meira's first feature premiered at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best First Feature. Thirteen year old Irene, shy and sheltered, discovers that her father has a second family in the same town and another daughter her own age carrying the same name. Telling no one, she seeks the girl out and finds an Irene nothing like her, one who introduces herself by the nickname Madalena. The two grow close, meeting boys at the cinema and going to the lake, and when they start talking about their father they realize they have far more in common than either expected. The film was praised for advancing a sensational premise without sensationalizing it, unfolding through gradual reveals, and for pushing the two girls past simple rivalry into a friendship built on recognizing the shared constraints of their own households. Shot in the state of Goiás, it won four prizes at Gramado, Brazil's most important festival, taking Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction and the Critics' Prize, along with Best First Feature and Best Cinematography at Guadalajara and the Audience Award at Valladolid. Cinematographer Daniela Cajías would later win a Goya for Las Niñas. Who it's for: Viewers drawn to quiet, observational coming of age drama and Latin American independent film. Who it's not for: Not for anyone expecting melodrama, since the film handles its striking premise in a deliberately restrained key.