Elza
NYT Critic's Picks • 1h 22m
Mariette Monpierre • France • 2011 • A deeply personal coming-of-age story set in Guadalupe.
Bernadette has done everything for her daughter. Elza, the first college graduate in the family, has just completed a masters degree in Paris; rather than seeking stable employment, however, Elza betrays her mother’s wishes and returns to her native island of Guadalupe, seduced by the memory of her father. Once there, Elza discovers a different man than she remembers.
Based on the filmmaker’s own life experience, Elza is a deeply personal coming-of-age story steeped in the sensuous atmosphere of its Caribbean landscape. Mariette Monpierre’s second film premiered at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award. Elza is a New York Times Critic's Pick.
Up Next in NYT Critic's Picks
-
Fatima
Philippe Faucon • 2015 • France • Based on the poetry of Moroccan poet Fatima Elayoubi
Fatima is of North-African descent. Having relocated to France, she works as a cleaning lady so she can help pay her daughters' wa...
-
Fire at Sea
Gianfranco Rosi • 2016 • Italy
A small fishing town emerges as the nexus of the refugee crisis.
Halfway between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia lies a tiny island with a dwindling full-time population of several...
-
Hard to Be a God
Aleksei German • 2013 • Russia • A visceral portrait of early humanity.
Based on the legendary science fiction novel by the Strugatsky brothers—who also wrote Roadside Picnic, the source novel for Tarkovsky's...