Renowned Chilean filmmaker Valeria Sarmiento has a long history of prodding at memory in her films. The veteran has directed more than 30 features addressing the situation of women in a patriarchal culture, having won awards at major festivals like San Sebastián and earning Golden Bear and Golden Lion nominations. Her latest, “Behind the Rain,” marks Sarmiento’s last directorial effort following a career spanning over half a century and marked by dozens of collaborations with her late husband, famed Chilean director Raúl Ruiz.
“Behind the Rain,” premiering in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s prestigious Crystal Globe Competition, follows psychology professor Sofia (Paula Prado). Just as the young woman is set to return to her hometown following the end of her postgraduate studies, a girl’s body is discovered there, unravelling painful memories of past trauma and sending Sofia through a pained process of self-reflection.
Speaking with Variety ahead of the film’s world premiere, Sarmiento recalls how the first inkling of an idea for the film came about as she and producer Chamila Rodríguez were mixing Ruiz’s “The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror.” “In a moment of rest, we talked about painful childhood experiences,” she says. “I told her I had a script we tried to make in Lisbon, then again in the U.K. and Locarno with that theme. Chamila told me we could try shooting it in Chile.”
