Closing Night Gala: Un Traductor
Saturday, October 1st - 7:00 pm ET
ONLINE
Duration: 1 hour 47 mins
FREE | Get Tickets
*ALL FILMS WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES*
Regular screenings are restricted to those 18 years of age or older according to the Ontario Theatres Act.
Note: This screening is only available in Canada.
Our twenty-first festival ends with a tour-de-force feature film that transports you to 1980s Havana, just after the Chernobyl crisis. Based on a true story, this gripping docudrama is captivating and refreshing, with an endearing cast of characters that will linger in your thoughts long after the film is over.
The film follows a Russian literature professor who is suddenly reassigned to work as a translator at a hospital, working with Russian children suffering the effects of radiation poisoning. This film reveals the human side of a piece of history that many may not be aware of; how some Russian patients were transported to Cuba for medical care after the events of Chernobyl.
While the content may seem heavy, this piece is far from tragic. With bright, colourful set design, stunning cinematography, and emotional, powerful acting, this film is a beautiful contemplation of life, and is sure to tug on your heartstrings.
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Un Traductor / A Translator
Rodrigo Barriuso and Sebastian Barriuso
2018 - Cuba/Canada - 102 mins - Drama
Best Film of Central America and the Caribbean (IFF Panama)
Best Feature (Seattle Latino Film Festival)
Audience Award (Pune International Film Festival)
Audience Award (Trieste Festival of Latin-American Cinema)
In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Malin, a Russian literature professor at The University of Havana, is sent to translate between Cuban doctors and children sent from the USSR for medical treatment. Torn from the abstract world of academia and forced into the relentlessly real world of medicine, Malin becomes increasingly depressed. When he meets a child who tells him a story, Malin connects with the kids and finds his way through. Just as he adapts to his new job, the Berlin Wall falls and Cuba enters the deepest economic crisis the island has ever known. But Malin is now so entrenched in the lives of the Chernobyl Children that he doesn’t notice his young family suffering. He must find his way back to his wife and child through the lessons he learns at the hospital – and become a better person on the way.
