BFI London Film Festival: Legacy

BFI London Film Festival: 238 films. From 71 countries. 16 cinemas. 12 days. One Festival.

Laura lives with her grandmother Rosalia in a small town in Southern Chile. She dreams of becoming a car mechanic – in contrast to most of her old school friends, who now have a child in tow. Rosalia dreams of her long dead husband, Juan, and is known in town for her magic spells against evil spirits. In this assured debut documentary, Roberto Anjari-Rossi chronicles the daily life of two women in rural Chile, where traditions and religion weigh heavily upon the female members of the community. Determined not to wait for a man to sort things out, Laura harvests grapes and fixes things in her grandmother’s house, hoping to gain an apprenticeship in a women’s garage. Reminiscent of Chilean author Isabel Allende’s magic realism and driven by both women’s strong characters and unshakable sense of humour, Legacy is a heartfelt portrait illuminated by the warm autumn light of the Andes.

(Notes by Laure Bonville)

Legacy, dir. Roberto Anjari-Rossi, Germany-Chile 2015, 83 mins.