LION’S DEN (LEONERA) Showcase Argentina

Director-screenwriter Pablo Trapero (ROLLING FAMILY, EL BONAERENSE) returns to AFI FEST with this redemptive story of a young pregnant woman trying to survive in prison. This film follows the ill-fated and beautiful Julia, who, after killing her lover, gives birth to a son, Tomas, in prison Helped through her early days in prison by her fellow prisoner Marta (Laura Garcia), Julia is allowed to raise Tomas in a ward for mothers. Then, Julia’s own mother, Sophia (Ellie Medeiros), returns to her life and, behind her back, begins pulling strings to gain custody of Tomas. Furious and broken, Julia tries to rebel : “My child is all I have!” But is proximity to a mother enough reason for a child to grow up in prison? The intense Martina Gusman offers a ferocious depiction of a mother fighting against odds to stay with her son, and Trapero offers a thoughtful depiction of prison life, showing us both the endearing and the bleak, the innocent and the contemptible. Shot on location, and featuring richly drawn characters, LION’S DEN gives us an entirely new, energized, poetic and sensitive take on the women-behind-bars film.