- Mexico
LEAP YEAR
Synopsis
Laura is a freelance journalist and lives alone in a small flat in Mexico City. She barely leaves it, except at night to bring men home whom she gets rid of again after a single night. Then she meets Arturo, quiet and unreadable, and the two of them drift into a relationship that grows more violent with every encounter. On the calendar, Laura crosses off the days of February, and the closer the 29th comes, the clearer it becomes that behind her submission lies an event from the previous leap year. “Leap Year” (Mexico 2010, original title “Año bisiesto”) by Michael Rowe plays out almost entirely within these few square metres, with Mónica del Carmen and Gustavo Sánchez Parra in the lead roles.
Rowe, an Australian living in Mexico, has built his first feature as a chamber piece about loneliness, carried by the lead actress, whom the camera never leaves. In Cannes the film won the Caméra d’Or for best debut in 2010. “Leap Year” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2010.
Festival
Shown at the 2010 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
