CPC and the Cleveland International Film Festival
The 2011 Cleveland International Film Festival runs from March 23rd through April 4th. The Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center has participated in the Film Festival for three years by supporting, introducing, and leading discussions of films. This year the members and Friends of the CPC are supporting a film from Spain entitled, “ELISA K.” The film will be shown three times during the Festival: Friday March 25@ 11:50am, Saturday March 26 @3:55pm, Monday March 28 @ 9:30pm.It is probable that 700-800 people will see the film, hear an introduction about psychoanalysis by one of us, and learn about our services.The cost to support this film is $1,000.00. Last year two analysts supported our film. This year we are asking for voluntary support from all. If you are a member and would like to help support the film, please contact the Center at 216-229-5959.Here’s the description of the film from the Film Festival catalog.
It is Autumn 1994 and Elisa K will be eleven in four months. On the same day Elisa visits the amusement park with her father and her father’s friend, she experiences a horrific trauma that will scar her the rest of her life. A dark, sobering drama about the prolonged consequences of childhood sexual abuse, ELISA K tells the poignant story of a broken girl’s internal struggle with her past. An eerily calm voice overtly narrates each specific detail of the plot, verbally painting an apprehensive background to an otherwise black and white film. Elisa suppresses the memory of her damaging experience, not telling her mother or father what happened out of fear and shock. He told her he would buy her a silver bracelet, and that’s what she remembers. She remains numb and withered. It is not until fourteen years later that something triggers Elisa’s memory of that day, evoking an intense physical and emotional reaction portrayed flawlessly by the film’s star, Aina Clotet. Elisa must now learn how to deal with the torture of remembering, of constantly seeing his face. Can she break her silence, or will she continue to suffer alone? A haunting depiction of stolen innocence, ELISA K is a beautifully made film that examines a strongly unsettling issue. (In Spanish with subtitles) – M.M. About the Directors – Jordi Cadena and Judith Colell, both from Barcelona, Spain, teach at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University and are well-established filmmakers. This is their first directorial collaboration together.Cadena’s Filmography – “Els papers d’Aspern” (1991), “Nexo” (1995), “Els passos perduts” (2010), ELISA K (2010). Colell’s Filmography – “Women” (2000), “53 días de invierno” (2006), ELISA K (2010).A daily schedule, and a complete list of film summaries are found on the website of the Film Festival. Each event consists of one screening of a Festival film as well as a pre-screening reception at a nearby venue and post-screening discount offers from nearby neighborhood merchants
