The Firefly (2015 film)
{{short description|2015 film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Firefly
| image = La luciérnaga-The Firefly film poster.jpeg
| caption =
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|La luciérnaga}}
| director = Ana Maria Hermida
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Luisa Casas
- Ana Maria Hermida
}}
| screenplay = Ana Maria Hermida
| based_on =
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| music = {{Plainlist|
- Bartek Gliniak
- Sol Okarina
}}
| cinematography = Alonso Homs
| editing = {{Plainlist|
- Juan Falla
- Travis Graalman
}}
| studio =
| distributor = Producciones iAMredHam
| released = {{Film date|2015|03||ATLFF}}
| runtime = 85 minutes
| country = {{Plainlist|
- Colombia
- United States
}}
| language = Spanish
| budget =
| gross =
}}
The Firefly (Spanish: La luciérnaga) is a 2015{{efn|The film is widely reported as having been released in 2013. However, Kickstarter campaigns were activated by writer/director Ana Maria Hermida to help with post-production as late as July 2015. According to Hermida, "I started writing in 2010, I shot it in 2013 and I finished it last year (2015)."{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/180314574|title=La Luciérnaga - The Firefly Trailer English subtitles 24fps|last=Hermida|first=Ana Maria|publisher=Vimeo|date=26 August 2016|accessdate=3 May 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.medialuna.biz/screeners/the_firefly.html|title=The Firefly By Ana María Hermida|website=medialuna.biz|accessdate=4 May 2019}}}} Colombian-American romance/fantasy drama film. Written and directed by Ana Maria Hermida, it stars Carolina Guerra and Olga Segura. The film has been regarded as "the first Colombian lesbian film".{{cite book|last=Rocha|first=Carolina|editor1-last=Sandberg|editor1-first=Claudia|editor2-last=Rocha|editor2-first=Carolina|date=2018|title=Contemporary Latin American Cinema: Resisting Neoliberalism?|chapter=Crowdfunding Images of Colombia and Ecuador: International Collaborations and Transnational Circulations in a Neoliberal Context|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uu1lDwAAQBAJ&q=Colombian+Film+Festival+New+York+The+Firefly&pg=PA158|isbn=978-3-319-77009-3|pages=155–159|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}} The film held its European premiere at the 2016 Barcelona International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://barcelonafilmfestival.org/en/la-luciernaga-3/|title=La luciérnaga (The Firefly)|website=Barcelona International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival|date=2016|accessdate=4 May 2019}}
Plot
Lucia is in a four-year marriage with Adrian, a banker by profession who is emotionally distant. Lucia finds out about the death via traffic accident of her brother Andrés on what was supposed to be his wedding day. Because of the estranged relationship between the siblings, Lucia is the last family member to find out about the death. While mourning, Lucia visits his apartment, where she encounters his fiancée, Mariana, who is also grieving. They develop a bond, in which they promise to look after one another while upholding their memories of Andrés; as the women spend time together, they develop deeper feelings for each other which eventually become romantic. Lucia's circumstances force her to decide between continuing the marriage or being with Mariana. Throughout the film, Lucia and Andrés' sibling relationship is explored, through childhood flashbacks and post-death fantasy sequences.
Cast
- Carolina Guerra as Lucia
- Olga Segura as Mariana
- Manuel José Chaves as Andrés
- Andrés Aranburo as Adrian
- Maria Helena Doering as Mercedes
- Luis Fernando Orozco as Padre Abelardo
- Álvaro Rodríguez as Cepulturero
- Pedro Falla as El Pastuso
- María José Romero as Lucia (Child)
- Nicolas Pena as Adrian (Child)
- Victor Alfonso Hermida as Father of Lucia and Adrian
Production
The film was directly inspired by Hermida's life, but is not autobiographical. Hermida's younger brother died in a car accident in 2007, which was an extreme hardship for Hermida.{{Cite web|url=http://mulhernocinema.com/52filmsbywomen/52filmsbywomen-de-setembro-ana-maria-hermida-claudia-pinto-emperador-lucy-mulloy-hagar-ben-asher/|last=Mendes|first=Letícia|title=#52FilmsByWomen de setembro: Ana Maria Hermida, Claudia Pinto Emperador, Lucy Mulloy, Hagar Ben-Asher|website=mulhernocinema.com|date=8 October 2017|accessdate=4 May 2019|language=Portuguese}} Afterward, her brother's girlfriend, whom Hermida was already close with, asked to stay with Hermida in New York City for roughly a month. Hermida elaborated, "Knowing she was coming gave me strength. I was able to get out of bed, buy groceries, clean up, and do all the things that seem impossible when you are deeply depressed".{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.sydneysbuzz.com/latinobuzz-exclusive-interview-with-la-luciérnaga-filmmaker-ana-maria-hermida-18bad9c36d19|last1=Caceres|first1=Juan|last2=Levine|first2=Sydney|title=LatinoBuzz: Exclusive Interview with 'La Luciérnaga' Filmmaker Ana Maria Hermida|website=SydneysBuzz|date=24 March 2016|accessdate=4 May 2019}} During the stay, Hermida noticed the girlfriend observing her, remarking that Hermida looked just like her brother. Hermida described this as "beautiful and interesting", and that it inspired Hermida to form the ideas for this film.{{cite web|last=Costa|first=Daniela|url=https://www.afterellen.com/movies/476735-colombian-filmmaker-ana-maria-hermida-lesbian-movie-firefly|title=Colombian filmmaker Ana Maria Hermida on her lesbian movie, "The Firefly"|website=After Ellen|date=2 March 2016|accessdate=2 May 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303110007/https://www.afterellen.com/movies/476735-colombian-filmmaker-ana-maria-hermida-lesbian-movie-firefly|archivedate=March 3, 2016}}
The Firefly is non-linear, and contains numerous flashbacks. The film also features Gothic and Catholic imagery as symbolic channels for Lucia's grief and confusion. Hermida described these and related motifs as imbuing "goth magic realism".{{cite web|url=https://isadorapennington.com/2015/03/29/new-mavericks-ana-maria-luisa/#content-wrapper|title=New Mavericks: Ana Maria + Luisa|last=Pennington|first=Isadora|website=isadorapennington.com|date=29 March 2015|accessdate=2 May 2019}} Hermida drew inspiration from her Catholic upbringing, as well as from the prominence of Catholicism in Colombia.
The project was filmed in 2013. Much of the filming took place in Colombia, the native country of Hermida, producer Luisa Casas, and lead actress Carolina Guerra. Hermida intentionally wanted to make a film that reflected Colombia in a positive and non-political manner, in order to counteract negative media portrayals and social circumstances of the country. The film utilized cityscapes of Bogotá to fulfill this effort.{{cite web|url=https://elclosetlgbt.com/recomendaciones/la-luciernaga-una-pelicula-con-tematica-lesbica-que-seguro-te-gustara/|last=Ascanio|first=Laura|title=La Luciérnaga, una película con temática lésbica que seguro te gustará|website=elclosetlgbt.com|date=14 August 2018|accessdate=3 May 2019|language=Spanish}}
During the post-production stages, Hermida started two different fundraisers on Kickstarter for the film, garnering $10,371 between May and July 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/780839450/la-luciernaga-the-firefly?ref=discovery&term=The%20Firefly|title=La Luciérnaga (The Firefly)|last=Hermida|first=Ana Maria|publisher=Kickstarter|date=18 June 2015|accessdate=2 May 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/780839450/la-luciernaga-movie|title=La Luciérnaga Movie|last=Hermida|first=Ana Maria|publisher=Kickstarter|date=1 July 2015|accessdate=2 May 2019}}
Release
The Firefly was screened in 2015 at the Atlanta Film Festival,{{cite web|url=https://www.atlantafilmfestival.com/atlff-news/2015/2/23/9wf6xw1fs4nouaxi81hi8h8xufhxas|title=Full Lineup of Features and Short Films Announced for 2015 Atlanta Film Festival|last=McAllister|first=Cameron|website=Atlanta Film Festival|date=23 February 2015|accessdate=2 May 2019}} the Madrid International Film Festival, and the Sarasota Film Festival;{{cite web|url=https://www.vimooz.com/2015/03/30/complete-film-lineup-announced-for-2015-sarasota-film-festival/|title=Complete Film Lineup Announced for 2015 Sarasota Film Festival|website=VIMOOZ|date=30 March 2015|accessdate=3 May 2019}} in 2016 at the 23rd Annual Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney, Australia,{{Cite web|url=http://www.lotl.com/Events-Calendar/Mardi-Gras-Film-Festival-LOTL-Highlights-891/|title=Mardi Gras Film Festival LOTL Highlights|website=lotl.com|date=14 January 2016|accessdate=2 May 2019}} and the Colombian Film Festival of New York; and in 2017 at the Dominican Global Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://2017.festivaldecineglobal.org/en/pelicula/la-luciernaga/|title=La Luciérnaga|website=Festival de Cine Global|accessdate=4 May 2019}}
The film was released theatrically in Colombia at the Cine Tonalá in Bogotá on November 10, 2016.
=Home media=
The Firefly was made available as VOD on Netflix in 2017.{{cite web|last1=Costa|first1=Daniela|title="The Firefly" is now available on Netflix!|url=https://www.afterellen.com/movies/473477-firefly-sweet-sapphic-love-story-sparked-grief|website=AfterEllen|date=July 14, 2017|accessdate=5 May 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717190845/https://www.afterellen.com/movies/473477-firefly-sweet-sapphic-love-story-sparked-grief|archivedate=July 17, 2017}}{{cite web|title=The Firefly|url=https://au.flixboss.com/movie/the-firefly-80166469|website=Flixboss|date=2018|accessdate=5 May 2019}}
Accolades
| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%;" |
| style="width:5%;"| Year
! style="width:25%;"| Award ! style="width:35%;"| Category ! style="width:25%;"| Nominee ! style="width:10%;"| Result |
|---|
| rowspan="3"| 2015
| rowspan="3"|Madrid International Film Festival | colspan="2"|Best Foreign Film{{cite web|url=http://www.madridinternationalfilmfestival.com/best-foreign-language-feature-film-2015/|title=Best Foreign Language Feature Film 2015|website=Madrid International Film Festival|date=9 April 2015|accessdate=2 May 2019}} | {{nom}} |
| Best Lead Actress in a Foreign Language Film
|{{nom}} |
| Best Supporting Actress
|{{nom}} |
| 2017
|Best Supporting Actor |Manuel José Chavez{{cite web|url=https://www.elespectador.com/entretenimiento/cine/premios-macondo-2017-esta-es-la-lista-de-nominados-articulo-725525|title=Premios Macondo 2017: esta es la lista de nominados|work=El Espectador|date=28 November 2017|accessdate=2 May 2019|language=Spanish}} |{{nom}} |
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|4097826|The Firefly}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firefly, The}}
Category:2010s Colombian films
Category:2010s Spanish-language films
Category:2015 LGBTQ-related films
Category:2015 romantic drama films
Category:Colombian drama films
Category:Colombian LGBTQ-related films
Category:Films set in Colombia
Category:Lesbian-related films