Straight ahead, on your right

Film présenté cette année à Cinélatino

In partnership with the Cinéfondation.

Direction
Marta Hernaiz Pidal
Country
Mexico
Format
Feature film
Type
Fiction
Original title
Al fondo a la derecha
Scenario
Marta Hernaiz Pidal

Marta Hernaiz Pidal

Marta Hernaiz Pidal (MEX 1988) has a master’s degree from Film Factory in Sarajevo. Her short film Dobro premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 (Cinéfondation). Her debut feature film, The Chaotic Life of Nada Kadic premiered at the Berlinale 2018 (Forum). In 2021 she was selected for the Residence of the Cinéfondation (Festival de Cannes) to work on her next film Al fondo a la derecha (Straight ahead, on your right).

Filmography

-The Empty Nest, short film, 2015
Sarajevo Film Festival 2015

– Dobro, short film, 2016
Festival de Cannes 2016 Cinéfondation 2016 ; Guanajuato International Film Festival, Mexico 2016, Best short film Award ; Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland 2017 ; Hiroshima International Film festival, Japan 2016

The Chaotic Life of Nada Kadic, feature film, 2018
Berlinale, Section Forum, Germany 2018 ; Cartagena International Film Festival, Colombia 2018 ; Jeonju International FIlm Festival, South Korea 2018 ; Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil 2019, Best feature film Award

Note of intent

As a teenager, I went out partying every weekend with my friends. We dressed up, flirted, drank, danced. Each weekend was the same, but it made us feel comfortable in that bubble that enveloped us and gave us a sense of belonging. Some nights, I took refuge in the women’s toilet, where I could take a break and watch other people. The ideas for this film come from those nights and the need to talk about otherness, how our environment and outlook affects us and makes us who we are.

Synopsis

About to turn 21 and excited to have a good time, Estela secretly plans to become independent from the strict rules of her family. For some time now, she has been doubting the beliefs she grew up with. To achieve her goals, she furtively finds her first job as a janitor in the women’s bathroom at the “14th floor”, an exclusive, trendy nightclub popular among upper class teenagers in Mexico City. Inside the women’s bathroom, where strangers advise each other, become fleeting friends or enemies, and rarely notice the person assisting them, Estela will discover a new universe which will transform her as she attempts to shake off guilt and finally fit in. She might even be able to fulfill her deepest wish and celebrate her birthday for the first time.

Visual concept

Flashes of light in the darkness, mirrors and reflections form distorted images replicated to infinity. Strobe lights! Popular pop songs sung drunkenly off key and the sound of a flushing toilet! There are endless opportunities in such a banal and common place like a toilet, joined with all the glamour and frivolity of the nightlife that is always moving and dancing giving me the opportunity to create rhythm and spontaneous choreographies inside the frame.

Objectives sought in Films in Development

Receiving creative feedback and ideas for the project, meeting coproducers, sales agents and distributors.

Shooting planned date

End 2022

Planned shooting location

Mexico City (Mexico)

Budget
900 000 Euros
Percentage of funding in place
3,8%
Project's development phase

Development

Production
Cine Vendaval
Coproduction
Películas Santa Clara
Biographie producteur.ice

Rosa Galguera Ortega (MX 1984) began her production company Películas Santa Clara in 2012 with the Belgian/Mexican feature film coproduction Lucifer (2014) by Gust Van den Berghe, followed by short films and the coproduction of Clases de Historia (MX 2018) by Marcelino Islas and the documentary Titixe (MX 2019) by Tania Hernández. She is developing Las Yeguas Brutas, by Guillermo Gaitán.