A few years ago we hit upon a surprise find at the TIFF, a film called Day Night Day Night. It came out of nowhere and blew us away with an outstanding performance by a single actress who was on camera for nearly every second of every shot. Last night I experienced that again.

Lion’s Den (tiff) was the story of a pregnant Argentine woman who ends up in prison, in a special section for mothers and young children. It covers the next few years of her life, how she adjusts to life in prison and to life as a mother, how she copes with her (long-delayed) trial, and adjusts to stay sane. Most of all it’s the story of how she loves her son. It doesn’t sound like much, but you have to see this ferocious performance of Martina Gusman in the role of Julia to know what so impressed me.

The director was there and spoke about the film, saying that it created a lot of controversy and debate in Argentina, and some laws about keeping children with their mothers would ultimately be changed as a result of the film.

I don’t know if this one will ever have a wide release, but keep it on your radar.

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[tags]tiff, tiff08, lion’s den, leonara[/tags]