The Ivy

A delicate, award-winning Ecuadorian relationship drama about a grown woman who connects with a teenage orphan – an encounter that opens life-changing doors for both of them.

With unwavering trust in her actors and a cinematic, rather than dialogue-driven, approach to storytelling, Ana Cristina Barragán follows up her critically acclaimed Alba and The Octopus Skin with a distinctive and refreshingly complex portrait of an unusual relationship. Azucena, a woman in her 30s, reaches out to a group of youths living in a care home. She is particularly drawn to one of the older boys, Julio – and he to her. Soon, the two begin to get to know each other – beneath the heavy shadows of the past looming over them. Deservedly awarded Best Screenplay in the Horizons section at the Venice Film Festival.

• Johan Blomqvist